Opinion ID: 1060712
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Robert Gwin

Text: On January 5, 1972, an employee of a grocery store in Memphis was shot and killed during a robbery of the store. Robert Gwin was tried for the murder, and on May 21, 1973, a Memphis jury found Gwin guilty of first degree murder in the perpetration of a felony and sentenced him to 100 years imprisonment. On appeal, the conviction and sentence were affirmed. Gwin v. State, 523 S.W.2d 636 (Tenn.Crim.App.1975), cert. denied (Tenn.1975). Four years later, in January of 1979, former Governor Ray Blanton commuted Gwin's sentence to time served. On April 21, 1994, the Tennessee Board of Pardons and Paroles regained custody of Gwin from the Georgia Department of Corrections due to an alleged commutation violation. On December 20, 1994, then Governor Ned McWherter revoked Gwin's commutation thereby reinstating the original 100-year sentence. On November 11, 1995, Gwin filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief challenging the validity of his sentence on the ground that the statute under which it was imposed had been declared unconstitutional by this Court. The trial court dismissed Gwin's petition, and Gwin appealed. Relying upon State v. Burkhart, 566 S.W.2d 871, 873 (Tenn.1978), in which this court stated that an illegal sentence is void and may be challenged and corrected at any time, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the trial court's judgment, held the petition was not time-barred by the post-conviction statute of limitations, and modified Gwin's sentence to life imprisonment. Thereafter, we granted the State's application for permission to appeal.