State of Tennessee v. Albert Taylor

The Appellant, Albert Taylor, appeals as of right from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s summary denial of his Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1 motion to correct an illegal sentence. On appeal, the Appellant argues that the trial court erred (1) by determining that, because his sentences had expired, he was not entitled to a motion hearing and (2) by treating his motion as a petition for habeas corpus relief. At first, the State conceded that the trial court erred. We originally determined that, even though the Appellant’s sentences were expired, he had stated a colorable claim and was entitled to a hearing, and therefore, we reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with Rule 36.1. The Tennessee Supreme Court granted the State’s application for permission to appeal and remanded the case to this court for reconsideration in light of the supreme court’s recent opinion in State v. Brown, 479 S.W.3d 200 (Tenn. 2015). After revisiting the issue, we conclude that the Appellant is not entitled to a hearing because his sentences have long ago expired. As such, we now affirm the trial court’s denial of the Appellant’s Rule 36.1 motion.