2009-M-104             Michael Charles Stewart, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

Michael Charles Stewart filed a petition for post-conviction relief in April 2008.  The post-conviction court denied his petition without an evidentiary hearing.  We affirm.

 On October 14, 1999, a Ramsey County jury convicted Stewart of first- and second-degree murder of his son, and of first-degree manslaughter (heat of passion) of his son’s mother and her unborn child.  The district court sentenced Stewart to two consecutive 86-month sentences for the manslaughter convictions, and another consecutive sentence of life in prison for the first-degree murder conviction.

Stewart had two years to file his latest appeal, unless he was covered by one of the exceptions to that time limit.  Stewart’s conviction was affirmed on direct appeal on April 19, 2001.  Stewart had two years after the effective date of the amending act, until July 31, 2007, to bring a petition for post-conviction relief under the statute.  Stewart did not file this post-conviction petition until April 30, 2008, a date outside that statutory time-frame.  Stewart did not assert or establish any of the statute’s exceptions; thus, we conclude that his petition is untimely and should not be considered on the merits

               Meyer (Magnuson, Page, Paul Anderson, Barry Anderson, Gildea, and Dietzen)

[MURDER]