Timothy A. Baxter v. State of Tennessee

Petitioner, Timothy Baxter, pled guilty to a multitude of offenses on December 10, 2001. As a result of this negotiated plea, Petitioner received an effective sentence of twelve years. Petitioner did not file a petition for post-conviction relief until February 25, 2005, which was over two years outside the statute of limitations under T.C.A. § 40-30-102. On May 4, 2005, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition for being outside the statute of limitations. Petitioner did not file a notice of appeal within thirty days as required by Rule 4(a) of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. On July 20, 2006, over a year after the post-conviction court filed its order dismissing his petition, Petitioner filed a motion for delayed notice of appeal. Five days later, the post-conviction court denied Petitioner’s request. On August 7, 2006, Petitioner filed a notice of appeal from the postconviction court’s dismissal of his motion for delayed appeal. Following a thorough review of the record, we dismiss Petitioner’s appeal on the grounds that there is no entitlement to a delayed appeal from the post-conviction court’s denial of Petitioner’s petition for post-conviction relief. In addition, it is not in the interest of justice to waive the timely filing of a notice of appeal in Petitioner’s case. Therefore, this appeal is dismissed.