Jessie Goins v. State of Arkansas

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

October 9, 2003

JESSIE GOINS

Appellant

v.

STATE OF ARKANSAS

Appellee

CR 02-972

APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION [CIRCUIT COURT OF GRANT COUNTY, NO. CR 94-9-2, HON. PHILLIP SHIRRON, JUDGE]

MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION DENIED

Per Curiam

In 1994, Jessie Goins was found guilty by a jury of aggravated robbery and sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment. We affirmed. Goins v. State, 318 Ark. 689, 890 S.W.2d 602 (1995).

Goins subsequently filed in the trial court an untimely petition pursuant to Criminal Procedure Rule 37.1 seeking to vacate the judgment. The petition was denied, and no appeal was taken from that order.

In 2002, Goins filed in the trial court a pro se petition to correct sentence pursuant to Ark. Code Ann.§ 16-90-111 (Supp. 1995), contending that sentence was illegal. The court dismissed the petition, and Goins appealed to this court. We granted the appellee's motion to dismiss the appeal because we found that the trial court did not err when it denied relief. Goins v. State, CR 02-972 (Ark. April 24, 2003) (per curiam). Appellant asks that we reconsider that decision.

As we said when the appeal was dismissed, this court has consistently held that an appeal

of the denial of postconviction relief will not be permitted to go forward where it is clear that the appellant could not prevail. Seaton v. State, 324 Ark. 236, 920 S.W.2d 13 (1996); Harris v. State, 318 Ark. 599, 887 S.W.2d 514 (1994); Reed v. State, 317 Ark. 286, 878 S.W.2d 376 (1994); see Chambers v. State, 304 Ark. 663, 803 S.W.2d 932 (1991); Johnson v. State, 303 Ark. 560, 798 S.W.2d 108 (1990); Williams v. State, 293 Ark. 73, 732 S.W.2d 456 (1987).

Appellant was procedurally barred from proceeding under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-111 in that the petition filed in the trial court was untimely. Criminal Procedure Rule 37.2 (b) has superseded Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-111 (Supp. 1995); Reed v. State, 317 Ark. 286, 878 S.W.2d 378 (1994), citing Hickson v. State, 316 Ark. 783, 875 S.W.2d 492 (1994). Rule 37.2(b) provides that all grounds for postconviction relief, including the assertion that a sentence is illegal, must be raised in a petition under the rule filed within sixty days of the date that the mandate of the appellate court affirming the judgment was issued. Appellant filed his petition more than seven years after the mandate was issued affirming the judgment in his case. The time limitations imposed in Rule 37.2(b) are jurisdictional in nature, and a circuit court may not grant relief on a untimely postconviction petition whether it be filed under Rule 37.1 or Ark. Code Ann. 16-90-111. See Maxwell v. State, 298 Ark. 329, 767 S.W.2d 303 (1989).

Motion for reconsideration denied.