Buddy C. Kennedy v. State of Arkansas

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT

No. CR 05-625

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

BUDDY C. KENNEDY

Petitioner

v.

STATE OF ARKANSAS

Respondent

Opinion Delivered June 30, 2005

PRO SE PETITION TO FILE A BELATED APPEAL [CIRCUIT COURT OF PULASKI COUNTY, CR 2003-3822]

PETITION DENIED

PER CURIAM

A judgment and commitment order was entered in Pulaski County Circuit Court on February 23, 2004, reflecting that Buddy C. Kennedy had entered a negotiated plea of guilty to first degree murder and received a sentence of 420 months' imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction. On June 8, 2004, Kennedy filed the pro se petition in this court for belated appeal of the judgment now before us.

Under Ark. R. App. P.--Crim. 1, there is no right to appeal a guilty plea, except for a conditional plea of guilty premised on an appeal of the denial of a suppression motion pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 24.3. Seibs v. State, ___ Ark. ___, ___ S.W.3d ___ (May 6, 2004). Petitioner does not contend, and the record does not reflect, that his plea of guilty was conditional. We have recognized two other exceptions to the general rule, as set out in Seibs and Bradford v. State, 351 Ark. 394, 94 S.W.3d 904 (2003). The two exceptions are: (1) when there is a challenge to testimony or evidence presented before a jury in a sentencing hearing separate from the plea itself; and (2) when the appeal is an appeal of a post-trial motion challenging the validity and legality of the sentence itself. Seibs, ___Ark. at ___, ___ S.W.3d at ___; Bradford, 351 Ark. at 399, 94 S.W.3d at 907. The case at hand does not fall within either exception. Petitioner was sentenced by the court, not a jury. The record does not indicate that any post-trial motion was filed. Thus, none of the recognized exceptions apply in this situation, and we therefore have no jurisdiction for an appeal. See Seibs v. State, ___ Ark. ___, ___ S.W.3d ___ (May 6, 2004).

Petition denied.