Randall Turner v. State of Tennessee, E2016-01969-CCA-R3-PC

In 2001 Randall Turner pled guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and two counts of aggravated robbery and received an effective sentence of life without parole.
Turner filed multiple post-conviction and habeas petitions from 2001–2014; prior petitions were dismissed as untimely or otherwise denied, and several appeals were affirmed.
On June 1, 2016 Turner filed a “Motion to Re-Open Post-Conviction Petition,” alleging coerced guilty pleas (Eighth Amendment), ineffective assistance (trial counsel’s failure to disclose a malpractice suit), and conspiracy among counsel, the State, and the court.
The post-conviction court treated the filing as an original post-conviction petition and denied it as untimely on June 6, 2016; Turner filed multiple motions to reconsider and then a late notice of appeal on September 27, 2016.
The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded Turner failed to follow the statutory procedures to seek review of a denial of a motion to reopen and that his notice of appeal from the post-conviction denial was untimely; the court declined to waive the deadline and dismissed the appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether plea was compelled and sentence violated the Eighth Amendment	Turner: pleas coerced by delay/tactics of counsel, State, and court; sentence cruel	State: claims untimely and procedurally defaulted; no relief because appeal/jurisdiction defects	Dismissed for lack of jurisdiction/untimely appeal; merits not reached
Whether Turner was effectively deprived of counsel	Turner: trial counsel failed to disclose Turner’s malpractice suit, causing conflict/ineffective assistance	State: procedural default and untimely; no jurisdiction to review	Dismissed as untimely/unreviewable on appeal
Constitutionality of the one-year post-conviction statute of limitations	Turner: one-year limitation is unconstitutional	State: procedural bar; court did not reach constitutional claim because of procedural defects	Claim not adjudicated; appeal dismissed for procedural reasons
Recusal of post-conviction judge	Turner: judge should have recused when entertaining motion to reopen	State: procedural defects; motion untimely	Court found procedural defects and declined review; recusal claim not reached

Graham v. State, 90 S.W.3d 687 (Tenn. 2002) (notice of appeal may be treated as application for permission to appeal if it contains sufficient substance)
State v. Rockwell, 280 S.W.3d 212 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2007) (discussing waiver of untimely notice of appeal and factors for granting waiver)