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TRAN v. STATE (2022)

Court of Appeals of Iowa.

Thuan Dinh TRAN, Applicant-Appellant, v. STATE of Iowa, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 21-1689

Decided: June 29, 2022

Considered by May, P.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.

Elizabeth K. Elsten, Spirit Lake, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Genevieve Reinkoester, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee State.

Thuan Tran was convicted of second-degree sexual abuse. He appealed his conviction, but this court affirmed. See generally State v. Tran, No. 17-0533, 2018 WL 739320 (Iowa Ct. App. Feb. 7, 2018). Procedendo issued on March 13, 2018. Then Tran filed an application for postconviction relief (PCR) on July 23, 2021. The State moved to dismiss Tran's application because it wasn't filed within the three-year period allowed by Iowa Code section 822.3 (2021). The PCR court granted the motion and dismissed Tran's application. Tran appeals.

On appeal, Tran asks us to adopt equitable tolling as a means around section 822.3.1 But “this court has frequently held that equitable tolling does not apply to section 822.3.” See Smith v. State, No. 19-0384, 2020 WL 110398, at *1 & n.2 (Iowa Ct. App. Jan. 9, 2020) (collecting cases). And we see no reason to choose a different path today.

Because Tran's application was untimely, the PCR court was right to dismiss it. We affirm without further opinion. See Iowa Ct. R. 21.26(1)(d), (e).

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Our review is for legal error. Nguyen v. State, 829 N.W.2d 183, 186 (Iowa 2013).

MAY, Presiding Judge.

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TRAN v. STATE (2022)

Docket No: No. 21-1689

Decided: June 29, 2022

Court: Court of Appeals of Iowa.

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