(A) Petition for Post-Conviction Relief. A petition for post-conviction relief is an application to the court, filed by or on behalf of a person convicted of and sentenced for the commission of a criminal offense, that seeks to have the conviction or sentence set aside or an appeal granted on the ground or grounds that the conviction or the sentence or the denial of an appeal violated the state or federal constitution. A pro se petition is one filed by a petitioner without the benefit of counsel.(B) Answer. An answer is a response filed by the state to the petition for post-conviction relief that admits or denies every claim in the petition and which raises affirmative and specific statutory defenses.(C) Motion to Reopen. A motion to reopen is a request filed by or on behalf of a person whose original petition for post-conviction relief has been finally ruled upon, to reopen the post-conviction proceeding to consider a new claim of constitutional error pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-117.(D) Waiver. A ground for relief is waived if petitioner or petitioner's counsel failed to present the ground for determination in any proceeding before a court of competent jurisdiction in which the ground could have been presented. A rebuttable presumption of waiver arises if a ground for relief was not raised before a court of competent jurisdiction in which it could have been raised. Waiver does not occur if the claim for relief is based upon a constitutional right not recognized at the time of the prior proceeding and if either the state or federal constitution requires retroactive application of the right.(E) Previously Determined. A claim for relief is previously determined if a court of competent jurisdiction has ruled on the merits of the claim after a full and fair hearing at which petitioner is afforded the opportunity to call witnesses and present evidence.(F) Post-Conviction Proceeding. A post-conviction proceeding is a proceeding filed and adjudicated in accordance with these rules of post-conviction procedure.(G) Filing. Papers required or permitted to be filed by the rules of post-conviction procedure, when filed by an attorney or a pro se petitioner who is not incarcerated, are filed when received by the clerk of court. If papers required or permitted to be filed by these rules are prepared by or on behalf of a pro se petitioner incarcerated in a correctional facility and are not received by the clerk of the court until after the time fixed for filing, filing shall be timely if the papers were delivered to the appropriate individual at the correctional facility within the time fixed for filing. "Correctional facility"shall include a prison, jail, county workhouse or similar institution in which the pro se petitioner is incarcerated. This provision shall also apply to service of papers by pro se petitioners pursuant to these rules. Should timeliness of filing or service become an issue, the burden is on the pro se petitioner to establish compliance with this provision.
(H) Colorable Claim. A colorable claim is a claim, in a petition for post-conviction relief, that, if taken as true, in the light most favorable to petitioner, would entitle petitioner to relief under the Post-Conviction Procedure Act. Adopted October 28, 1996; Amended by order filed 11/2/1999.