Antonio Dewayne Walker v. State of Arkansas

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT

No. CR 04-653

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

ANTONIO DEWAYNE WALKER

Appellant

v.

STATE OF ARKANSAS

Appellee

Opinion Delivered June 16, 2005

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF PULASKI COUNTY, CR 2000-3016, HON. TIMOTHY DAVIS FOX, JUDGE

AFFIRMED

PER CURIAM

Following a jury trial, Antonio Dewayne Walker was convicted of two counts of capital murder and two counts of aggravated robbery and sentenced to two life sentences on the murder charges and two sentences of seven hundred and twenty months' imprisonment, all to be served consecutively. This court affirmed the conviction and sentence. Walker v. State, 353 Ark. 12, 110 S.W.3d 752 (2003). Walker filed a timely petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. The trial court held a hearing on the petition and subsequently denied the petition by written order entered December 23, 2003. Walker now brings this appeal of that order.

We do not reach the merits of appellant's arguments on appeal, since, as the State notes in its brief, appellant's petition was not properly verified. Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1(d) requires that the petition be verified. The verification requirement for a postconviction relief petition is of substantive importance to prevent perjury. Carey v. State, 268 Ark. 332, 596 S.W.2d 688 (1980). To serve this purpose, a petitioner must execute the verification, and if the petitioner is represented by counsel, counsel may not sign and verify the petition for him. Boyle v. State, Ark. , S.W.3d (May 5, 2005) (per curiam).

Since the petition was not verified as required by Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1(d), dismissal of the petition was appropriate. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's denial of postconviction relief.

Affirmed.