Francis W. Potts, Petitioner-Appellant v. State of Tennessee, Respondent-Appellee

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of Francis Potts's post-conviction challenge to his 1982 and 1983 DUI guilty pleas as time-barred under the three-year limitations period of T.C.A. § 40-30-102, which Tennessee courts give prospective application only, requiring challenges to pre-1986 convictions by June 30, 1989. Rejecting Potts's contention that the limitations statute unconstitutionally suspends the writ of habeas corpus under Article I, § 15 of the Tennessee Constitution, the court held that post-conviction and habeas remedies are theoretically and statutorily distinct: habeas lies only for void judgments or expired terms of imprisonment and carries no time limitation. In a footnote, the court cautioned that true habeas petitions cannot be defeated by conversion into time-barred post-conviction proceedings under T.C.A. § 40-30-108.