Alder v. State

108 S.W.3d 263, 2002 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 735, 2002 WL 2012650
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedAugust 28, 2002
DocketE2002-00287-CCA-R3-PC
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 108 S.W.3d 263 (Alder v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alder v. State, 108 S.W.3d 263, 2002 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 735, 2002 WL 2012650 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

JOE G. RILEY, J.,

dehvered the opinion of the court,

in which DAVID H. WELLES and JERRY L. SMITH, JJ., joined.

The petitioner appeals the denial of her petition for habeas corpus rehef. She contends the trial court was without authority to revoke her judicial diversion after her diversionary probation expired, absent the issuance of a revocation warrant prior to its expiration. She, therefore, argues the trial court was without jurisdiction when it revoked judicial diversion, was consequently without jurisdiction when it sentenced *265 her to additional years of probation, and was without jurisdiction when it subsequently issued a probation revocation warrant. We agree and reverse the denial of habeas corpus relief.

On September 29, 1997, the petitioner pled guilty to vehicular homicide. The trial court entered an order placing her on judicial diversion and placed her on three years of supervised probation. Thus, the petitioner’s diversionary period was set to expire September 29,2000.

The petitioner’s probation officer submitted a violation report directly to the trial judge on October 5, 1999, indicating a fee arrearage. The report stated no revocation warrant was being requested. There is no indication the petitioner received a copy of the report, nor was it filed with the court clerk. No motion was filed by the state to revoke diversion.

On August 23, 2000, the probation officer submitted another violation report directly to the trial judge indicating the petitioner had positive drug screens in June and July, 2000, and other violations. The report requested that diversion be revoked. Again, there is no indication the petitioner received a copy of the report, nor was it filed with the court clerk. According to the trial judge, the report was placed in the trial judge’s personal file. No revocation warrant was issued, and no motion was filed by the state to revoke diversion.

Although the record is somewhat unclear, the case was apparently set for a “checkpoint” on September 15, 2000. By letter dated September 7, 2000, from the probation officer, the petitioner was notified to appear on September 15th. The letter did not state that any violation had been filed. The trial court’s minute entry for September 15th simply indicates that “[t]his case is continued to November 3, 2000.” The trial judge stated that her recollection of that appearance was that the parties appeared and were made aware of possible violations, and the case was reset to November 3, 2000, to allow the petitioner to secure new counsel because her then-attorney had become a judge. However, no evidence was introduced concerning this September 15th appearance other than the minute entry. There is no indication in the record before this court that the petitioner received a copy of the violation report at this appearance, nor is there competent evidence in the record to indicate petitioner’s acknowledgment of being charged with a violation or the details of any alleged violations. Certainly, there is no indication the petitioner waived the filing of a revocation warrant. Further, it is undisputed that a revocation warrant was never issued.

On November 3, 2000, the trial court entered a judgment of conviction revoking judicial diversion and sentencing the petitioner to three years of probation. Neither a revocation warrant nor a motion by the state to revoke diversion was ever filed. The defendant did not appeal the judgment.

On March 1, 2001, a probation violation warrant was issued alleging a positive drug screen and failure to pay probation fees. On March 21, 2001, the defendant, with different counsel, filed a motion to dismiss the probation revocation warrant in which she alleged the November 2000 judgment of conviction against her was void because it was entered after the diversionary period expired. The motion was denied by the trial court. This court denied the petitioner’s request for an interlocutory appeal and/or extraordinary appeal. See State v. Shanna Alder, E2001-01425-CCA-R9-CD (Tenn.Crim.App. July 28, 2001, at Knoxville), perm. to app. denied (Tenn.2001).

*266 The petitioner filed the instant application for post-conviction relief and for habe-as corpus relief on September 10, 2001, which was denied by the trial court on January 18, 2002. The trial court held the petitioner’s period of diversion did not expire automatically at the end of the three years in the absence of an order of discharge from diversion and, therefore, it retained authority to sentence the defendant when it entered judgment on November 3, 2000. It further held the November 2000 sentence did not violate double jeopardy.

I. POST-CONVICTION RELIEF AND HABEAS CORPUS

The petitioner seeks post-conviction and habeas corpus relief. She argues the November 2000 judgment of conviction and resulting sentence are void due to the trial court’s absence of jurisdiction after the diversionary period expired. We must agree.

Grounds for post-conviction relief exist when a conviction or sentence is void or voidable due to the abridgment of a constitutional right. Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-203 (1997); State v. Wilson, 31 S.W.3d 189, 194 (Tenn.2000). A writ of habeas corpus may issue only where it is plain from the record the court lacked jurisdiction or authority to sentence a defendant or the sentence has expired. Dixon v. Holland, 70 S.W.3d 33, 36 (Tenn.2002).

Appellate review of the trial court’s findings of fact in a post-conviction proceeding is de novo with a presumption of correctness, while review of questions of law is de novo with no presumption of correctness. Miller v. State, 54 S.W.Sd 743, 745 (Tenn.2001). The determination of whether ha-beas corpus relief should be granted is a question of law; therefore, appellate review is de novo with no presumption of correctness. McLaney v. Bell, 59 S.W.3d 90, 92 (Tenn.2001). The material facts before this court are undisputed, and our review is limited to questions of law. Therefore, we review the trial court’s conclusions de novo with no presumption of correctness.

II. JUDICIAL DIVERSION

A defendant who pleads guilty or is found guilty of certain offenses may be allowed judicial diversion, a statutory process by which the trial court may defer further proceedings without entering a judgment of conviction. Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-313(a)(l)(A) (Supp.2001). The defendant is placed on probation with reasonable conditions for a specified period of time not exceeding the maximum sentence for the offense. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 S.W.3d 263, 2002 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 735, 2002 WL 2012650, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alder-v-state-tenncrimapp-2002.