Sprinkle v. State

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
• Decided: December 10, 1997
• Docket: 03C01-9612-CR-00474
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT KNOXVILLE FILED NOVEMBER 1997 SESSION December 10, 1997

Cecil Crowson, Jr. Appellate C ourt Clerk CHARLES SPRINKLE, ) C.C.A. No. 03C01-9612-CR-00474 Appellant, ) ) Hawkins County V. ) ) Honorable James E. Beckner, Judge ) STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) ) (Post-Conviction) Appellee. )

FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:

Charles Sprinkle, Pro Se John Knox Walkup N.E.C.C. Attorney General & Reporter P.O. Box 5000 Mountain City, TN 37683-5000 Marvin E. Clements, Jr. Assistant Attorney General 450 James Robertson Parkway Nashville, TN 37243-0493

C. Berkeley Bell, Jr. District Attorney General

Doug Godbee Assistant District Attorney General Main Street, Hawkins County Courthouse Rogersville, TN 37857

OPINION FILED: ___________________

AFFIRMED

PAUL G. SUMMERS, Judge 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 § 40-30-102 (repealed 1995).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:

-2- ______________________________ JOSEPH B. JONES, Presiding Judge

______________________________ J. CURWOOD WITT, JR., Judge

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