Opinion ID: 1643118
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Harrington's Appeal.

Text: Harrington urges that it was improper for the district court to apply the period of limitations added to section 663A.3 by the 1984 amendment to an application seeking relief from a conviction which became final prior to the amendment's effective date. In response to this contention, the State urges that a statute which merely cuts off a remedy after a certain period of time does not offend against due process. Consequently, it argues, the legislature was free to amend section 663A.3 to establish a fixed time within which the remedies afforded under chapter 663A may be pursued. We recognized in Swanson v. Pontralo, 238 Iowa 693, 698, 27 N.W.2d 21, 24 (1947), that a statute which merely cut[s] off a remedy, after a lapse of time, within which time, the claimant ... was free to assert the remedy ... does not offend against due process if the statute grants a reasonable time within which process can be had.  Id. (emphasis added). We quoted with approval the following statements found in 16 C.J.S. Constitutional Law § 615, at 1237: While limitations must comply with the requirements of due process of law, and while a statute of limitations which attempts to bar a debt or other claim without giving a reasonable time within which the right may be preserved is violative of the due process clause, nevertheless statutes of limitation do not necessarily operate to deprive a person of property without due process, even though enacted subsequently to the arising of the claim. We believe the import of these considerations is that persons adversely affected by the shortening of a statute of limitations must be given a reasonable time after the change in the law to avoid its consequences. In applying the foregoing principles to Harrington's claims, we believe the issue is not whether the 1984 amendment may affect the time for challenging convictions occurring before its effective date. It clearly may affect such challenges if this was the intent of the legislature. The apparent purpose in requiring postconviction challenges to be brought within the time specified in the 1984 amendment is to reduce injustices occurring as a result of lost witnesses for (a) resolution of factual disputes arising in the postconviction proceedings and (b) the retrial of cases in which convictions are overturned. Because the potential for lost witness problems is significant with respect to convictions occurring before the 1984 amendment, it is unlikely that the legislature intended that challenges to such convictions be completely immune from the newly enacted statute of limitations. It still must be determined, however, how the 1984 amendment may be accommodated with the requirement that a reasonable length of time must be allowed for the filing of claims after the amendment became effective. Other jurisdictions considering this issue within the context of postconviction relief applications have reached somewhat divergent results. In Perkins v. State, 487 So.2d 791 (Miss.1986), and Odom v. State, 483 So.2d 343 (Miss.1986), the court held that a reasonable period of time must be allowed to present challenges to convictions which became final prior to the enactment of a statute of limitations for bringing postconviction relief actions. It resolved the problem by holding that those persons should have three years from the effective date of the newly-created statute of limitations within which to present such claims rather than three years from the time their convictions became final. People v. Robinson, 140 Ill.App.3d 29, 94 Ill.Dec. 387, 487 N.E.2d 1264 (1986), involved a postconviction claim which was brought slightly more than a year after the applicable statute of limitations had been shortened from twenty years to ten years. The claim would not have been barred by the twenty-year statute but was barred if the ten-year statute was applied as written. Although the court recognized that a reasonable length of time must be permitted for the filing of postconviction applications by persons whose claims were adversely affected by the shortened statute of limitations, it opted to resolve the issue of what was a reasonable period of time on a case-by-case basis. In the Robinson case, the court held that a postconviction application filed slightly more than one year after the effective date of the new statute of limitations and otherwise barred by the time period specified in the amendment had not been brought within a reasonable time and, as a result, was subject to dismissal. Choosing between the approaches of the Mississippi and Illinois courts does not necessarily engender a clear preference for either. We somewhat favor the Mississippi approach, however, on the basis of ease in application. Consequently, we hold that all potential postconviction applicants whose convictions became final prior to July 1, 1984, must file their applications for postconviction relief on or before June 30, 1987, or be barred from relief. [1] This approach will not unduly frustrate the purposes of the 1984 amendment and will give fair notice to all concerned of that which is required of them. Our holding necessarily requires that the order of the district court with respect to Harrington's application be reversed. We have considered all claims presented. The writ of certiorari in the Brewer action is sustained. On Harrington's appeal, the district court's order is reversed. Both postconviction applications are remanded to the district court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. WRIT SUSTAINED; REVERSED AND REMANDED.