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Aisha Wiggins v. State of Tennessee
Citation: Not availableDocket: W2011-00670-CCA-R3-PC
Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee; January 10, 2012; Tennessee; State Appellate Court
Original Court Document: View Document
Aisha Wiggins appeals the dismissal of her post-conviction relief petition regarding her guilty plea to child abuse, which she entered on January 6, 2009. The trial court sentenced her to ten years as a Range II persistent offender, initially on community corrections, but later revoked this sentence on April 20, 2010, ordering her to serve the remainder in confinement. Wiggins appealed the revocation but later dismissed her appeal. In December 2010, she filed a pro se post-conviction relief petition, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel; however, the court dismissed it as time-barred on January 7, 2011. Although Wiggins filed her petition within a year of her appeal being dismissed, it was over a year after her conviction became final. The court noted that her claims did not pertain to the revocation but to the validity of her plea. The post-conviction court's ruling was affirmed, with appointed counsel concluding the appeal was frivolous under Anders v. California, and no response was received from Wiggins regarding this motion. The court emphasized that the exceptions to the statute of limitations outlined in Tennessee law did not apply in her case. A court may consider an untimely petition if enforcing the statute of limitations would infringe upon the petitioner's due process rights. The determination involves: (1) identifying when the limitations period should have started, (2) assessing if the grounds for relief arose after the limitations period commenced, and (3) evaluating whether strictly applying the limitations period would deprive the petitioner of a fair opportunity to present their claim. Due process balances the petitioner's liberty interest against the state's interest in preventing stale claims. The petitioner argued for tolling the statute of limitations due to a lack of understanding of the Post-Conviction Procedure Act; however, ignorance of legal requirements does not justify tolling. Citing recent case law, the court affirmed that a lack of awareness of the statute of limitations or the grounds for relief does not warrant an extension. Consequently, the post-conviction court's dismissal of the petition as time-barred was upheld. The judgment is affirmed, counsel's motion to withdraw is granted, and the petitioner is informed of the option to petition the Tennessee Supreme Court within sixty days. A copy of the opinion will be sent to the petitioner at her last known address.