Opinion
No. 03C01-9612-CR-00474.
December 10, 1997.
Hawkins County, Honorable James E. Beckner, Judge, (Post-Conviction).
AFFIRMED
FOR THE APPELLANT:
Charles Sprinkle, Pro Se, N.E.C.C.
FOR THE APPELLEE:
John Knox Walkup, Attorney General Reporter, Marvin E. Clements, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, C. Berkeley Bell, Jr., District Attorney General, Doug Godbee, Assistant District Attorney General.
OPINION FILED: _________________________
OPINION
In 1985 the appellant, Charles Sprinkle, was convicted of aggravated rape and incest. He received an effective sentence of fifty-three years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In 1996 he filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that the indictment against him was insufficient for failing to allege a mens rea. The trial court dismissed the petition as time barred. He appeals this dismissal. Upon review, we affirm.
The appellant's convictions became final over eleven years ago. At that time the law allowed three years to file a petition for post-conviction relief. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-102 (repealed 1995). The appellant's time period for filing his petition has expired. Therefore, his petition is time barred.
Accordingly, we find no error of law mandating reversal. The trial court's dismissal of the petition is affirmed in accordance with Tenn. R. Ct. Crim. App., Rule 20.
__________________________ PAUL G. SUMMERS, Judge
CONCUR:
______________________________ JOSEPH B. JONES, Presiding Judge
______________________________ J. CURWOOD WITT, JR., Judge