Tony Hodge v. State of Arkansas

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

PER CURIAM

JANUARY 23, 2003

TONY HODGE

Appellant

v.

STATE OF ARKANSAS

Appellee

CR 02-112

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF WHITE COUNTY, CR 1998-292, HONORABLE ROBERT EDWARDS, JUDGE

AFFIRMED

In 1998, Appellant entered pleas of guilty to manufacture of a controlled substance, robbery, and escape in the first-degree. He was sentenced to a total of thirty years' imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Almost three years later, appellant filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Cr. P. 37. The circuit court denied the petition, concluding that it was without jurisdiction to grant the relief requested. We affirm.

Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.2(c) requires that a petition claiming relief under the rule must be filed within 90 days of the date of entry of judgment if a conviction was obtained on a plea of guilty. The time limitations imposed in Rule 37 are jurisdictional in nature, and the circuit court may not grant relief on a untimely petition for postconviction relief. Shoemate v. State, 339 Ark. 403, 406, 5 S.W.3d 446, 447 (1999).

Here, appellant filed his Rule 37 petition outside of 90 days of the date of entry of judgment based upon his guilty pleas. Accordingly, appellant foreclosed his right to seek postconviction reliefunder Rule 37. See id. at 407, 5 S.W.3d at 448.

Affirmed.