Oliver J. Higgins v. State of Tennessee

A Hardin County jury convicted Petitioner of several drug-related crimes. Petitioner unsuccessfully appealed these convictions. State v. Oliver Higgins, Jr., No. 5, 1991 WL 153021, (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, Aug. 14, 1991), perm. app. denied, (Tenn. Dec. 30, 1991). These convictions were later used to enhance his sentence in the Federal courts. Petitioner filed a petition for postconviction relief to attack these convictions. The post-conviction court treated the petition as a motion to reopen a prior petition for post-conviction relief and dismissed the petition. On appeal, Petitioner argues that the post-conviction court erred in dismissing his petition. We conclude that the appeal is not properly before this Court because Petitioner is required by statute to file an application for permission to appeal as opposed to a notice of appeal as filed. Therefore, we dismiss this appeal.