Artis Whitehead v. State of Tennessee

OPINION

WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court,

in which GARY R. WADE, C.J., CORNELIA A. CLARK, and SHARON G. LEE, JJ., joined. JANICE M. HOLDER, J., filed a dissenting opinion.

Tennessee prisoners whose convictions and sentences are upheld on appeal have one year to file a petition for post-conviction relief to challenge their convictions and sentences. This appeal involves the narrow circumstances in which fundamental fairness demands the tolling of this deadline. A prisoner filed his petition for post-conviction relief after the statutory deadline had passed because his…