Clyde Johnson v. State of Arkansas

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

NOVEMBER 13, 2003

CLYDE JOHNSON

Appellant

v.

STATE OF ARKANSAS

Appellee

CR 03-162

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF CRITTENDEN COUNTY, CR 90-181, HONORABLE CHARLES DAVID BURNETT, JUDGE

REVERSED AND REMANDED

Per Curiam

Appellant was convicted of aggravated robbery in 1991, and was sentenced to fifty years' imprisonment. On belated direct appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed. Johnson v. State, No. CACR 00-815 (Ark. Ct. App. Oct. 17, 2001)(unpublished). The mandate issued November 6, 2001. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Cr. P. 37 on January 4, 2002. The circuit court denied the petition, concluding that the petition was not timely filed. Appellant claims that the circuit court erred in concluding that his petition was untimley, and the State does not dispute appellant's claim. We agree.

Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.2(c) provides that if an appeal was taken of the judgment of conviction, a petition claiming relief under the rule must be filed within 60 days of the date the mandate was issued by the appellate court. The time limitations imposed in Rule 37 are jurisdictional in nature, and a circuit court cannot grant relief on an untimely petition. Hill v. State, 340 Ark. 248, 249, 13 S.W.3d 142, 142-43 (2000).

Here, appellant timely filed his Rule 37 petition. The Court of Appeals' mandate issued on November 6, 2001. Appellant filed his petition on January 4, 2002, which was within the sixty day window for filing allowed by Rule 37.2(c). Therefore, appellant's Rule 37 petition was not untimely.

Accordingly, we reverse and remand with directions to reinstate the petition and for the circuit court to issue findings that comply with Rule 37. If appellant desires to appeal those findings, he must renew the appeal process in this court with the filing of another notice of appeal.

Reversed and remanded.