Kevin Lee Johnson v. State of Tennessee

The Petitioner, Kevin Lee Johnson, appeals as of right from the Marshall County Circuit Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief.  The Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred in summarily dismissing his petition for post-conviction relief for two separate convictions: (1) a 2012 conviction for driving after having been declared a motor vehicle habitual offender (“MVHO”) and (2) a 2013 conviction for failure to appear.  Following our review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s summary dismissal of the Petitioner’s claim regarding his 2012 MVHO conviction for having been untimely filed.  However, we reverse the post-conviction court’s summary dismissal of the Petitioner’s claim regarding his 2013 failure to appear conviction because the Petitioner stated a colorable claim for relief and remand the case to the post-conviction court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.