Zion Houston v. State of Tennessee - Dissent

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
• Decided: January 28, 2025
• Docket: W2023-01637-CCA-R3-PC
• Status: Published

Opinion

01/28/2025 IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON Assigned on Briefs October 1, 2024

ZION HOUSTON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Madison County No. C-23-225 Donald H. Allen, Judge ___________________________________

No. W2023-01637-CCA-R3-PC ___________________________________

MATTHEW J. WILSON, J., dissenting.

In accordance with the reasoning set forth in this court’s recent opinion in Jarrett v. State, I would dismiss Petitioner’s appeal due to his failure to file a timely notice of appeal and his failure to acknowledge that his notice of appeal is untimely or otherwise request that this court accept his late-filed notice of appeal. See Jarrett v. State, No. W2023-01636- CCA-R3-PC, 2024 WL 4851587, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Nov. 21, 2024). This court has recognized that the appellant has the burden of properly perfecting his appeal or demonstrating that the interest of justice warrants waiver of the timely filing requirement. See State v. Manning, No. E2022-01715-CCA-R3-CD, 2023 WL 7439203, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App. Nov. 9, 2023) (citing State v. Thomas, No. W2022-00109-CCA-R3-CD, 2023 WL 328337, at *3 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 20, 2023), perm. app. denied (Tenn. June 7, 2023)), perm. app. denied (Tenn. May 16, 2024). Because Petitioner failed to acknowledge that his notice of appeal was untimely or otherwise request that this court accept his late- filed notice of appeal, I conclude that he has failed to meet his burden of establishing that the interest of justice warrants waiver of the timely filing requirement. Therefore, I must, respectfully, dissent.

s/ Matthew J. Wilson MATTHEW J. WILSON, JUDGE