Sawyers v. State

OPINION

DAUGHTREY, Justice.

In this post-conviction proceeding, we are asked to determine whether relief should be granted to a defendant who was actually a juvenile at the time of the offense, but who was not afforded a transfer hearing in juvenile court prior to his conviction in criminal court, because neither he nor the state knew that he was underage. The petitioner, Roger Lee Sawyers, was mistakenly indicted as an adult in February 1978 and, ignorant of his actual birth date, did nothing to correct the mistake. Indeed, he compounded it by misstating his age in criminal court in April…