Opinion

Moore v. State

  • 943 S.W.2d 878
  • 1997 Tenn. LEXIS 232
  • 1997 WL 205979
Court
Tennessee Supreme Court
Filed
Apr 28, 1997
Status
Published
Author
Birch
On the bench
Birch, Drowota, Anderson, Reid, Holder
Cited by
4 cases
Authority
More cited than 64.2%

The opinion

I N T H E S U P R E M E C O U R T O F T E N N E S S E E FILED

A T K N O X V I L L E

April 28, 1997

Cecil Crowson, Jr.

Appellate C ourt Clerk

L A W R E N C E M O O R E ) F O R P U B L I C A T I O N

)

A p p e l l e e ) F I L E D : A P R I L 2 8 , 1 9 9 7

)

v . ) K N O X C O U N T Y

)

S T A T E O F T E N N E S S E E ) H O N . R A Y L . J E N K I N S , J U D G E

)

A p p e l l a n t ) N O . 0 3 - S - 0 1 - 9 6 0 7 - C R - 0 0 0 7 3

F o r A p p e l l e e : F o r A p p e l l a n t :

M A R K E . S T E P H E N S J O H N K N O X W A L K U P

P u b l i c D e f e n d e r A t t o r n e y G e n e r a l a n d R e p o r t e r

P A U L A R . V O S S M I C H A E L E . M O O R E

A s s i s t a n t P u b l i c D e f e n d e r S o l i c i t o r G e n e r a l

K n o x v i l l e , T N

G O R D O N W . S M I T H

A s s o c i a t e S o l i c i t o r G e n e r a l

N a s h v i l l e , T N

R A N D A L L E . N I C H O L S

D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y G e n e r a l

Z A N E S C A R L E T T

A s s i s t a n t D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y

G e n e r a l

K n o x v i l l e , T N

O P I N I O N

J U D G M E N T O F T H E C O U R T O F C R I M I N A L A P P E A L S B I R C H , C . J .

REVERSED; PETITION DISMISSED

2

In 1994, Lawrence Moore, the petitioner, filed a pro se

petition for habeas corpus relief alleging that his 1983

convictions for robbery and kidnapping violated his due process

rights under the state constitution. Treating the petition as one

for post-conviction relief, the trial court concluded that the

statute of limitations barred consideration of the claim and

dismissed the petition. The Court of Criminal Appeals found that

the petition raised a claim under State v. Anthony, 817 S.W.2d 299

(Tenn. 1991). In addition, the intermediate court held that

Anthony announced a new constitutional rule that applied

retroactively, and therefore, under Burford v. State, 845 S.W.2d

204 (Tenn. 1992), and Sands v. State, 903 S.W.2d 297 (Tenn. 1995),

Moore’s petition was timely. We granted the State’s application

for permission to appeal.

After granting the State’s application, we released our

opinion in State v. Denton, S.W.2d , 1996 WL 688350 (Tenn.

December 2, 1996). In Denton, we held that Anthony did not

announce a new constitutional rule:

Prior to Anthony, there were two

lower court opinions that applied

the same rule. See Brown v. State,

574 S.W.2d 57 (Tenn. Crim. App.

1978) and State v. Rollins, 605

S.W.2d 828 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1980).

Further, although there was a dearth

of direct Tennessee case law on the

issue, numerous other jurisdictions

had addressed the relationship

between kidnapping and other

felonies that characteristically

involved some detention of the

victim. While the case law from

other state jurisdictions does not

constitute “precedent” within the

Meadows/Teague rule, such analyses

3

of the issue were widespread and

represented a body of persuasive

authority available to the

petitioner. In light of the

previous intermediate court

opinions, we hold that Anthony did

not announce a new rule.

Id. at *2. Because Anthony did not announce a new constitutional

rule, it does not constitute a “later-arising” ground for relief

under Sands. Consideration of Moore’s petition is barred by the

statute of limitations. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-102 (1990).

The judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals is

reversed, and the petition is dismissed.

________________________________________

ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., Chief Justice

CONCUR:

Drowota, Anderson, Reid, Holder, JJ.

4

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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