Robert Dennis v. Larry Norris

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT

No. 05-29

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

ROBERT DENNIS

Petitioner

v.

LARRY NORRIS

Respondent

Opinion Delivered May 12, 2005

PRO SE MOTION FOR REHEARING ON MOTION FOR BELATED APPEAL [CIRCUIT COURT OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, CV 2004-298-1, HON. BERLIN JONES, JUDGE]

MOTION DENIED

PER CURIAM

Robert Dennis filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the circuit court of the county in which he is incarcerated. The petition was denied and Dennis filed a notice of appeal. When the record was tendered to this court, our clerk declined to lodge it because the notice of appeal was untimely. Dennis filed a motion for rule on clerk, which was treated as a motion for belated appeal. This court denied the motion in Dennis v. Norris, 05-29 (Ark. March 3, 2005). Now before us is petitioner's motion for reconsideration.

As we said in the original opinion, there is no absolute duty imposed on a judge or clerk to notify a petitioner that a petition for writ of habeas corpus has been denied. Petitioner cites to Scott v. State, 281 Ark. 436, 664 S.W.2d 475 (1984), where this court amended our rule to require a copy of an order on a petition under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1 to be promptly mailed to the petitioner. As was noted in the original opinion, the amendment in Scott is limited to our rule concerning petitions under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1 and does not apply to a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. As a result, there is no showing of cause for the failure to comply with procedure upon which to base allowing a belated appeal. The motion for reconsideration does not establish that there was any error in our assessment of the merits of the motion.

Motion denied.