Armstrong v. State

On Petition to Transfer

DICKSON, Justice.

Steven Armstrong's murder conviction was affirmed in 1996 by the Court of Appeals in a memorandum decision. When he filed a petition for post-conviction relief in 1999, the post-conviction court applied the doctrine of laches to bar consideration of his petition. The Court of Appeals affirmed in a memorandum decision. We granted transfer, and we now consider Armstrong's appeal anew and hold that laches does not bar consideration of his petition for post-conviction relief.

The equitable doctrine of laches operates to bar consideration of the merits of a…