Dominic Simpson v. State of Arkansas
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ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
No.
CR 07-299
Opinion Delivered
May 17, 2007
v.
PRO SE MOTIONS FOR
EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE
APPELLANT’S BRIEF [CIRCUIT
COURT OF GARLAND COUNTY,
CR 99-570, HON. JOHN HOMER
WRIGHT, JUDGE
STATE OF ARKANSAS
Appellee
APPEAL DISMISSED.
DOMINIC SIMPSON
Appellant
PER CURIAM
In 2000, a jury found appellant Dominic Simpson guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced
him to 480 months’ imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction. The Arkansas Court
of Appeals affirmed the judgment. Simpson v. State, CACR 01-684 (Ark. App. Dec. 19, 2001). On
October 23, 2006, appellant filed in the trial court a pro se petition for postconviction relief under
Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. The trial court dismissed the petition as untimely, and appellant has lodged
an appeal of that order in this court. Appellant has filed two pro se motions requesting an extension
of time in which to file appellant’s brief. With the second motion, he includes statements by another
prisoner who has assisted appellant in preparation of the brief. Those statements attest to certain
difficulties concerning appellant’s ability to communicate without assistance and the limitations
resulting from incarceration.
We agree with the trial court’s finding that the petition was untimely and we must therefore
dismiss the appeal. 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.
Pardue v. State, 338 Ark. 606, 999 S.W.2d 198 (1999) (per curiam); Seaton v. State, 324 Ark. 236,
920 S.W.2d 13 (1996) (per curiam); Harris v. State, 318 Ark. 599, 887 S.W.2d 514 (1994) (per
curiam); Reed v. State, 317 Ark. 286, 878 S.W.2d 376 (1994) (per curiam). It is clear that appellant
cannot prevail as his petition was not timely.
Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.2(c) requires that the petition for postconviction
relief must be filed within sixty days of the date the mandate issued. Here, appellant filed his
petition more than four years after the mandate issued on January 8, 2002. The time limitations
imposed in Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.2(c) are jurisdictional in nature. The circuit court may not grant
relief on a petition for postconviction relief which is not timely filed. Benton v. State, 325 Ark. 246,
925 S.W.2d 401 (1996) (per curiam). The trial court correctly determined that it did not have
jurisdiction to grant relief.
Appeal dismissed.
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