Lead Opinion
OPINION
delivered the opinion of the court,
This appeal involves the application of the transfer provisions in Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 (Supp.2008) to habeas corpus petitions challenging a criminal conviction. The petitioner, who was incarcerated in Davidson County, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Criminal Court for Davidson County. The trial court promptly denied the petition on its merits. Rather than filing a petition seeking post-conviction relief, the petitioner appealed the dismissal of his habeas corpus petition to the Court of Criminal Appeals. For the first time on appeal, the petitioner, invoking Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116, requested the Court of Criminal Appeals to transfer his habeas corpus petition to Maury County, where he had been convicted, for consideration as a post-conviction petition. The Court of Criminal Appeals declined to transfer the habeas corpus petition to Maury County and affirmed the denial of the petition. Carter v. Bell, No. M2006-01363-CCA-R3-HC,
I.
In 2005, Terrance N. Carter pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court for Maury County to possession of less than one-half (.5) grams of cocaine with the intent to sell. On August 29, 2005, in accordance with Mr. Carter’s plea agreement, the court in Maury County sentenced Mr. Carter as a Range I offender to seven years to be served consecutively to a prior sentence. The judgment stated in the space for “Special Conditions” that Mr. Carter had agreed to both consecutive sentencing and to a sentence outside of the range.
Mr. Carter was incarcerated in a prison in Davidson County. On May 23, 2006, he filed a pro se “Petition for a Writ of Habe-as Corpus” in the Criminal Court for Davidson County. He asserted in his petition that the trial court in Maury County lacked jurisdiction to impose his consecutive seven-year sentence because it exceeded the maximum sentence available to a Range I offender convicted of the crime to which he had pleaded guilty.
On June 8, 2006, the trial court denied Mr. Carter’s habeas corpus petition without appointing counsel or holding a hearing. Noting that Mr. Carter had agreed to be sentenced outside of his range, the trial court concluded that Mr. Carter’s judgment was neither illegal nor void.
Mr. Carter then appealed pro se to the Court of Criminal Appeals. Counsel was appointed to represent him. In his pro se brief filed in the Court of Criminal Appeals, Mr. Carter argued (I) that the trial court erred by denying the habeas corpus petition without appointing counsel and holding a hearing and (2) that the judgment was void because he received an out-of-range sentence. Mr. Carter also asserted that the Court of Criminal Appeals should treat the habeas corpus petition as a petition for post-conviction relief and should order the Criminal Court for Davidson County to transfer the case to Maury County.
The Court of Criminal Appeals filed its opinion on September 21, 2007. The court, in a holding entirely consistent with Hoover v. State,
II.
An application for a writ of habeas corpus “should be made to the court or judge most convenient in point of distance to the applicant, unless a sufficient reason be given in the petition for not applying to such court or judge.” TenmCode Ann. § 29-21-105 (2000). Filing with the nearest court or judge generally means the county where the petitioner is being held, unless a sufficient reason is given for not
Mr. Carter properly filed his habeas corpus petition in the county in which he was incarcerated. His claim — that he agreed to an illegal sentence and should therefore be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea— was properly presented in a habeas corpus petition. See Smith v. Lewis,
Mr. Carter asserted for the first time before the Court of Criminal Appeals that the habeas corpus petition should be treated as one for post-conviction relief based on the claim that his guilty plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered. The Post-Conviction Procedure Act provides that a “petition for habeas corpus may be treated as a petition under this part when the relief and procedure authorized by this part appear adequate and appropriate, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in title 29, chapter 21, or any other statute.” Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-105(c) (2006). No similar statutory provision exists, however, specifically authorizing a ha-beas court to transfer a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to a court with jurisdiction to treat the petition as one for post-conviction relief.
Even in the absence of such a statutory provision, a court has the discretion to treat a pleading according to the relief sought. Norton v. Everhart,
While bound by this general rule, the Court in Norton observed in dicta that “both judicial economy and our state’s policy of disposing of cases on the merits, rather than for technical reasons, would be better served by the adoption of a rule allowing courts without subject matter jurisdiction to transfer the case to any proper court.” Norton v. Everhart,
Apparently in response to this Court’s invitation, the General Assembly enacted TenmCode Ann. § 16-1-116 in
Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule of court to the contrary, when an original civil action, an appeal from the judgment of a court of general sessions, or a petition for review of a final decision in a contested case under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, is filed in a state or county court of record or a general sessions court and such court determines that it lacks jurisdiction, the court shall, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer such action or appeal to any other such court in which the action or appeal could have been brought at the time it was originally filed. Upon such a transfer, the action or appeal shall proceed as if it had been originally filed in the court to which it is transferred on the date upon which it was actually filed in the court from which it was transferred.
Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116. Mr. Carter argues that Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 authorizes transfer of a habeas corpus petition to the proper post-conviction forum. The State responds that Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 does not provide authority for a transfer because neither a habeas corpus nor a post-conviction proceeding may be fairly characterized as an “original civil action.”
The issue presented for review requires statutory construction. We review issues of statutory construction de novo with no presumption of correctness attaching to the rulings of the court below. State v. Edmondson,
Although the petitioner in Norton v. Ev-erhart filed a habeas corpus petition, this Court agreed with the Court of Criminal Appeals that the petition should be treated as a civil action. The issue in Norton, therefore, concerned transferring a civil action. As such, the General Assembly’s presumed awareness of Norton provides no support for Mr. Carter’s argument that Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 should be construed to apply to transfer of habeas corpus or post-conviction proceedings.
Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 permits transferring an “original civil action” only when the court in which it was filed “determines that it lacks jurisdiction.” In this case, the Criminal Court for Davidson County had jurisdiction over the habeas corpus action. Therefore, Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116, on its face, does not authorize transfer of the habeas corpus petition to the Circuit Court for Maury County for that court to treat the petition as a post-conviction petition under Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-105(c). Cf. Benson v. Herbst,
This Court has held that a post-conviction proceeding is criminal in nature for the purpose of Tenn. R.App. P. 4(a). State v. Scales,
Post-conviction proceedings are best described as proceedings arising out of a criminal case. See TenmCode Ann. § 16-5-108(a)(2) (1994) (defining jurisdiction of Court of Criminal Appeals as including habeas corpus and post-conviction proceedings and “other cases or proceedings instituted with reference to or arising out of a criminal case”). Post-conviction proceedings are not considered civil actions for the purpose of the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals. See TenmCode Ann. § 16-4-108(a)(l) (1994). We must presume that the General Assembly was aware of these statutes when enacting Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116. The General Assembly could have included post-conviction actions within the scope of Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-1-116 by referring to these actions by name. Instead, the General Assembly used the unambiguous term “original civil action.” We derive legislative intent from the plain and ordinary meaning of this statutory language. Applying the aforementioned principles of statutory construction, we conclude that “original civil action” does not include a
Having determined that Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 does not authorize a transfer in this situation, we lastly decide whether to fashion a remedy. See Norton v. Everhart,
III.
We have concluded that the Court of Criminal Appeals correctly determined that the trial court did not err by denying Mr. Carter’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We have also concluded that the Court of Criminal Appeals correctly determined that Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 does not authorize transfer of Mr. Carter’s habeas corpus petition to another county for consideration as a post-conviction proceeding. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals. It appearing that Mr. Carter is indigent, we tax the costs of this appeal to the State of Tennessee.
GARY R. WADE, J., filed a dissenting opinion.
Notes
. Possession of cocaine with intent to sell less than point five (.5) grams, a Class C felony, has a sentence range of three to six years for a Range I offender. Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-112(a)(3) (2006).
. It was not until the oral argument before the Court of Criminal Appeals that Mr. Carter’s lawyer cited Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 as authority for his request to transfer Mr. Carter's habeas corpus petition to Maury County.
. The maximum sentence allowed for a Class C felony is fifteen years. Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-111(b)(3) (2006).
. Compare Anderson v. State, No. M2004-02116-CCA-R3-HC,
.As a preliminary matter, the State argues that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in addressing the transfer issue because it was not raised in the trial court. Whether a transfer would be in the interest of justice may be addressed for the first time on appeal. See Hawkins v. Tenn. Dep't of Correction,
. Act of May 15, 2000, ch. 794, 2000 Tenn. Pub. Acts 2271.
. Mr. Carter does not allege in his petition that he was unaware that his agreed sentence was outside of the range. The face of the judgment makes clear that he agreed to be sentenced outside of the range. The alleged illegality of the sentence is the only factual basis stated for his claim that his guilty plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered. As we stated above, the trial court correctly determined that the agreed sentence is legal. Therefore, this factual basis may no longer be considered. Under the Post-Conviction Procedure Act, ''[fjailure to state a factual basis for the grounds alleged shall result in immediate dismissal of the petition.” Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-106(d) (2006). Since Mr. Carter's petition would now be subject to immediate dismissal, treating it as a post-conviction petition would appear to be futile. When a petition is filed pro se, the trial court has the discretion to allow the petitioner to file an amended petition to avoid dismissal. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-106(d) (providing that "the judge may enter an order stating that the petitioner must file an amended petition that complies with this section within fifteen (15) days or the petition will be dismissed”). The issue in this case, however, is whether Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 authorizes a transfer. In making that determination, we must treat Mr. Carter's petition as it was filed, not as it could be amended. Notwithstanding our concerns about the futility of any potential transfer in this case, we will address the issue in the interest of resolving the conflict among panels of the intermediate court.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. In my view, our legislature has granted trial courts with broad statutory authority to transfer claims filed in the wrong jurisdiction under the remedial provisions found in Tennessee Code Annotated section 16-1-116 (Supp.2008). Moreover, this Court has traditionally encouraged the disposition of colorable claims on the merits rather than on procedural grounds. In consequence, I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals and remand to the trial court for a transfer of the claim to the court having jurisdiction under the Post-Conviction Procedure Act.
Background
The relevant facts are as stated by the majority. On August 29, 2005, the Petitioner was convicted of possession of less than 0.5 grams of cocaine with intent to sell. The trial court imposed a seven year sentence. Nine months later, the Petitioner, while incarcerated in Davidson County, filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Davidson County Criminal Court. The Petitioner contended that he had been illegally sentenced to seven years, when, as a Range I offender for a class C felony, he only qualified for a term of between three and six years. See State v. Burkhart,
On June 8, 2006, the trial court summarily dismissed the petition, finding that the Petitioner had failed to establish that his conviction or sentence was “void or illegal,” grounds for habeas corpus relief. See Hogan v. Mills,
Analysis
Habeas Corpus and Postr-Conviction
The statutory provisions governing ha-beas corpus relief and post-conviction relief in Tennessee are two “separate and distinct” procedures. Summers v. State,
In contrast, a petitioner may seek relief under the Post-Conviction Procedure Act “when the conviction or sentence is void or voidable because of the abridgment of any right guaranteed by the Constitution of Tennessee or the Constitution of the United States.” Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-103. “A post-conviction proceeding is commenced by filing, with the clerk of the court in which the conviction occurred, a written petition naming the state as the respondent.” Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-104(a) (2006).
A pro se petition in a post-conviction case is “held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers, and the test is whether it appears beyond doubt that the [petitioner] can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Swanson v. State,
Transfer of Cases
These principles are the backdrop for the question of first impression posed in this case: whether a trial court should transfer grounds , for post-conviction relief
In Norton v. Everhart,
Shortly after the decision in Norton, the Tennessee General Assembly enacted a broad, remedial transfer provision. The statute, effective on May 23, 2000, provides as follows:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule of court to the contrary, when an original civil action, an appeal from the judgment of a court of general sessions, or a petition for review of a final decision in a contested case under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, is filed in a state or county court of record or a general sessions court and such court determines that it lacks jurisdiction, the court shall, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer such action or appeal to any other such court in which the action or appeal could have been brought at the time it was originally filed. Upon such a transfer, the action or appeal shall proceed as if it had been originally filed in the court to which it is transferred on the date upon which it was actually filed in the court from which it was transferred.
Tenn.Code Ann. § 16-1-116 (emphasis added).
The question in this instance is whether this statute governs in these circumstances. I believe that it does, whether by the plain meaning of the words or by the historical context of the legislation. If that
Plain Meaning of Section 16-1-116
Well-defined precepts apply to questions of statutory interpretation. Our chief concern is to carry out legislative intent without broadening or restricting the statute beyond its intended scope. Houghton v. Aramark Educ. Res., Inc.,
When attempting to ascertain the plain meaning of a statutory text, courts will often rely on dictionaries for widely-accepted definitions of individual words and terms.
At the time the General Assembly enacted section 16-1-116 in 2000, the latest edition of Black’s Law Dictionary provided the following definition of “civil action”: “[a]n action brought to enforce, redress, or protect a private or civil right; a noncriminal litigation.” Black’s Law Dictionary 30 (7th ed.1999). A “private right” was defined as “[a] personal right, as opposed to a right of the public or the state.” Id. at 1323. A “civil right,” on the other hand, was defined as follows:
1. The individual rights of personal liberty guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and by the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments, as well as by legislation such as the Voting Rights Act. Civil rights include esp. the right to vote, the right of due process, and the right of equal protection under the law.
2. CIVIL LIBERTY
By the use of this definition, a petition containing a claim of constitutional abridgement qualifies as “[a]n action brought to enforce, redress, or protect a private or civil right.” In this instance, the Petitioner, who sought to protect his “individual rights of personal liberty guaranteed by the Bill of Rights” and his “[flreedom from undue governmental interference or restraint,” claimed his action was to protect a civil right guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
Although the dictionary definition of “civil action” included only “non-criminal litigation,” and a claim under the Post-Conviction Procedure Act is an attack upon a criminal conviction or sentence, Black’s Law Dictionary limited the definition of “criminal proceeding” to a determination of “a person’s guilt or innocence [or] a convicted person’s punishment,” or “a criminal hearing or trial.” Id. at 1221. Here, the Petitioner did not seek to establish his guilt or innocence or to set his punishment; instead, he presented a collateral challenge to the constitutionality of his earlier conviction, a proceeding this Court has previously described as not strictly criminal in nature. See Watkins v. State,
If a post-conviction action fits the plain meaning of “civil action,” it must only fall outside the meaning of “original civil action” if it is not “original.” The term “original” in its most natural meaning refers to any jurisdiction which is not appellate. See Black’s Law Dictionary at 856 (defining “original jurisdiction”). A post-conviction claim is a new, collateral challenge to an earlier judgment, not an appeal. Edwards v. State,
In consequence, I cannot concur with the majority’s conclusion that “original civil action” unambiguously excludes actions for post-conviction relief. It is my opinion that the term includes actions for post-conviction and habeas corpus relief — both of which are actions by private individuals to enforce their personal civil rights. If, however, the phrase qualifies as ambiguous, or if there is reason to think that the General Assembly intended to employ a definition other than its plain meaning, it is our duty to ascertain intent by consideration of the legislative history of a statute.
Context of Section 16-1-116
Section 16-1-116 was enacted against a background of prior judicial decisions considering the appropriate application of procedural rules to litigation involving both civil and criminal elements. Neither the rules of criminal procedure nor the rules of civil procedure apply to post-conviction proceedings, except as specifically provided by statute or Supreme Court Rule. See Tenn. Sup.Ct. R. 28 § 3(B).
The procedural characteristics of the post-conviction remedy should be appropriate to the purposes of the remedy. While the post-conviction proceeding is separate from the original prosecution proceeding, the post-conviction stage is an extension of the original proceeding and should be related to it insofar as feasible.
Post-conviction review has become an established part of the criminal process. In formulating a rule we recognize that the post-conviction proceeding is procedurally separate and apart from the original criminal prosecution. It may be initiated by a petition for habeas corpus. It seeks not to convict, but to set aside a conviction which is void or voidable because of the abridgement of constitutional rights.... The procedure by which a criminal conviction may be set aside is civil in nature, therefore it is tried under the Rules of Civil Procedure and less stringent evidentiary rules apply. If the petitioner is unsuccessful in his application his criminal status is retained.
Watkins,
By the application of these principles, we previously determined that Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-1-106 (1980), which tolled the statute of limitations in “civil causes of action” for mental incompetency, applied to post-conviction cases. Watkins,
Statutory context, like our earlier precedents, supports the applicability of 16 — 1— 116 to post-conviction and habeas corpus actions. Significantly, section 16-1-116 does not exclude either habeas corpus or post-conviction cases. Moreover, that the statute was enacted after our decision in Norton, without specific exclusion, implies that transfers of petitions for lack of jurisdiction met with legislative approval. See State v. Powers,
In my view, section 16-1-116 clearly vests the trial courts with the authority to transfer a post-conviction claim from one
Our admonition in Watkins is applicable here: “The availability of a procedure to regain liberty lost through criminal process cannot be made contingent upon a choice of labels.”
. The Post-Conviction Procedure Act was adopted by the Tennessee General Assembly
(a) To provide a post-conviction process at least as broad in scope as existing federal statutes under which claims of violation of constitutional right asserted by persons convicted by the state courts of Tennessee are determined in federal courts under the federal habeas corpus statutes.
(b) To provide a procedure in such cases that is swift and simple and easily invoked.
(c) To provide for full fact hearings to resolve disputed factual issues, and for compilation of a record to enable federal courts to determine the sufficiency of those hearings.
(d) To provide for decisions supported by opinions, fact findings and conclusions of law, which disclose the grounds of decision and resolution of disputed facts. Gary L. Anderson, Post-Conviction Relief in Tennessee-Fourteen Years of Judicial Administration Under the Post-Conviction Procedure Act, 48 Tenn. L.Rev. 605, 609-10 (1981) (quoting F. Dennis, A Post-Conviction Procedure Act for Tennessee (First Draft) § 102(2) (Tenn. State Archives)).
. In Anderson v. State, No. M2004-02116-CCA-R3-HC,
Notwithstanding this holding, we are constrained to note that "[a] petition for habeas corpus may be treated as a petition under [the Post-Conviction Procedure Act] when the relief and procedure authorized by [the Act] appear adequate and appropriate....” T.C.A. § 40-30-105(c). In considering whether a post-conviction petition states a colorable claim for relief, the post-conviction court is to take the facts alleged as true. See T.C.A. § 40-30-106(0 (2003). Anderson,2006 WL 739885 , at *3.
.The petition must be filed “within one (1) year of the date of the final action of the highest state appellate court to which an appeal is taken or, if no appeal is taken, within one (1) year of the date on which the judgment became final....” Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30~102(a) (2006). The one year statute of limitations in post-conviction cases is subject to certain exceptions, none of which are relevant in the present case. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-102(b).
. "[I]t must be borne in mind that they were not prepared by counsel, but by a layman unlearned in the law. The allegations of a pro se complaint are held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers, and the test is whether it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Baxter,
. Our intermediate courts have addressed (and reached conflicting results) in similar cases. See Anderson,
. A 1994 computer search performed by the Harvard Law Review estimated that the U.S. Supreme Court had referred to dictionaries in more than six hundred cases. Note, Looking it Up: Dictionaries and Statutory Interpretation, 107 Harv. L.Rev. 1437, 1437 (1994). The Court did so recently in its consideration of litigation to which a metropolitan government of this state was a party, Crawford v. Metro. Gov’t of Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn., -U.S. -, -,
. Prior to adoption of Supreme Court Rule 28, however, the rules of civil procedure were
. The specific holding in Watkins regarding the tolling of the post-conviction statute of limitations has been superseded by a statutory amendment. See Seals v. State,
. One observer has criticized the courts that have implemented the Post-Conviction Procedure Act for their tendency to place "unnecessary judicial restrictions on the availability of post-conviction relief.” Anderson, 48 Tenn. L.Rev. at 662.