Reyes v. State
| Decision Date | 06 February 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 22045,22045 |
| Citation | 913 P.2d 1183,128 Idaho 413 |
| Parties | Maria REYES, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Respondent. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the District Court of the Third Judicial District, State of Idaho, Canyon County; Gerald L. Weston, District Judge.
Van G. Bishop, Canyon County Public Defender; Thomas A. Sullivan, Deputy Public Defender, Nampa, for appellant.
Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Myrna A.I. Stahman, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent.
Maria Reyes appeals from an order dismissing her application for post-conviction relief. The application was dismissed because it was filed beyond the time period permitted by Idaho Code § 19-4902. We affirm.
Reyes was convicted of felony injury to a child. The judgment of conviction was upheld in State v. Reyes, 121 Idaho 570, 826 P.2d 919 (Ct.App.1992). The remittitur in that appeal was issued on March 13, 1992. At the time, I.C. § 19-4902 provided that an application for post-conviction relief could be filed "at any time within five (5) years from the expiration of the time for appeal or from the determination of an appeal or from the determination of a proceeding following an appeal, whichever is later." However, in 1993, the legislature amended section 19-4902 by reducing the time period for filing an application for post-conviction relief to one year. 1993 Sess.Laws, ch. 265, p. 898. This amendment took effect on July 1, 1993, and shortened the limitation period for filing Reyes' claim to one year from the effective date of the amendment. See University of Utah Hospital v. Pence, 104 Idaho 172, 176, 657 P.2d 469, 473 (1982); LaFon v. State, 119 Idaho 387, 807 P.2d 66 (Ct.App.1991); Mellinger v. State, 113 Idaho 31, 740 P.2d 73 (Ct.App.1987).
Reyes filed her application for post-conviction relief on October 27, 1994, within five years after the remittitur from her earlier appeal, but more than one year after the effective date of the amendment to section 19-4902. The district court dismissed the application on the ground that it was barred by the 1993 amendment to section 19-4902.
On appeal, Reyes presents four arguments why the district court erred by concluding that her application was time-barred. First, she contends that the court failed to apply a "discovery" exception based upon her assertion that she did not learn of the new, one-year time limit for filing her application until after that time had expired. Second, she argues that she was unaware of the change in the time allowed for filing her application because she was incarcerated in an institution which was not staffed with trained inmate law clerks. Third, she submits that not recognizing a discovery exception transforms the amendment to section 19-4902 into an ex post facto law. Finally, she asserts that dismissal of her application violates her right of access to the courts, protected under art. I, section 18 of the Idaho Constitution.
None of these arguments are persuasive. The sole ground for relief stated by Reyes in her application is a claim that her trial counsel was ineffective because the attorney "did not fully research facts and evidence, including evidence not presented at trial in order to find reasonable doubt as to [Reyes'] innocence." Reyes' application does not assert, nor does she argue on appeal, that this allegation concerned facts discovered after the time had expired for filing her application. Her argument on appeal focuses solely upon her alleged unawareness that the statute had been amended, while she was incarcerated, to shorten the time for filing her application. If a "discovery" exception should apply to the filing of an application for post-conviction relief, the exception must relate to facts learned by the applicant after expiration of the time limit established by I.C. § 19-4902. See, e.g., Stuart v. State, 118 Idaho 932, 801 P.2d 1283 (1990). This exception would render irrelevant the applicant's unawareness of the time allowed by law within which to file the application. The ignorance of a person of his or her right to bring an action does not prevent the running of a statute of limitation. Coe v. Sloan, 16 Idaho 49, 59, 100 P. 354, 358 (1909). In this regard, the Washington Supreme Court has explained:
The key consideration under the discovery rule is the factual, not the legal, basis for the cause of action. The action accrues when the plaintiff knows or should know the relevant facts, whether or not the plaintiff also knows that these facts are enough to establish a legal cause of action. Were the rule otherwise, the discovery rule would postpone accrual in every case until the plaintiff consults an attorney.
Allen v. State, 118 Wash.2d 753, 826 P.2d 200, 203 (1992). Likewise, if a statute of limitation did not begin to...
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