Allen Lynn Penn v. State of Arkansas

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT

No. CR 05-942

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

ALLEN LYNN PENN

Appellant

v.

STATE OF ARKANSAS

Appellee

Opinion Delivered January 5, 2006

PRO SE MOTION TO FILE BELATED BRIEF [CIRCUIT COURT OF PULASKI COUNTY, CR 83-441, HON. MARION HUMPHREY, JUDGE]

MOTION GRANTED

PER CURIAM

Allen Lynn Penn was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. We affirmed. Penn v. State, 284 Ark. 234, 681 S.W.2d 307 (1984).

In 2004, Penn filed in the trial court a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to Act 1780 of 2001, codified as Ark. Code Ann. § 16-112-201 to -207 (Supp. 2003), in which he requested DNA testing of blood samples that he claimed had been collected from the crime scene. The trial court denied the petition, and Penn lodged an appeal from that order.

Now before us is appellant's pro se motion to file a belated brief. The appellant's brief was due on October 10, 2005, but was not tendered until October 14, 2005. Appellant contends that he did not receive a copy of the record until twelve days before the brief was due and that his time in the library where he is incarcerated was limited. Under these circumstances and because the brief was tendered only four days after it was due, we grant appellant's motion to file the brief belatedly. As the brief has already been tendered, it will be filed as of the date of this opinion.

Motion granted.