Alejandro Avila-Salazar v. State of Tennessee

In 2006, the Petitioner, Alejandro Avila-Salazar, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and attempted aggravated rape, and the trial court ordered the Petitioner to serve an effective sentence of forty years.  The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which was dismissed, and this Court affirmed the dismissal.  Alejandro Avila-Salazar v. State, No. M2008-02120-CCA-R3-PC, 2009 WL 3029604, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville, Sept. 22, 2009), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Feb. 22, 2010).  Several years later, in 2014, the Petitioner filed a petition for habeas corpus relief, alleging that his guilty pleas were not knowingly and voluntarily entered because his sentence violated the jurisdictional limits of the trial court.  He further contended that the indictment against him failed to apprise him of the offense that he was being called to defend.  The habeas corpus court summarily dismissed the petition.  On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the habeas corpus court erred when it summarily dismissed his petition because his constitutional rights had been violated.  He further contends that he had been improperly denied “indigent status.”  After a thorough review of the record and applicable authorities, we affirm the habeas corpus court’s judgment.