John H. Boldin v. State of Arkansas
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ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
No.
CR 08-1029
Opinion Delivered
JOHN H. BOLDIN
Appellant
v.
November 20, 2008
APPELLEE’S MOTION TO DISMISS
APPEAL [CIRCUIT COURT OF
LOGAN COUNTY, NORTHERN
DISTRICT, CR 2005-100, HON.
ELIZABETH DANIELSON, JUDGE]
STATE OF ARKANSAS
Appellee
MOTION GRANTED; APPEAL
DISMISSED.
PER CURIAM
In 2007, appellant John H. Boldin was found guilty by a jury of murder in the first degree and
aggravated robbery and sentenced to consecutive terms of life and forty years’ imprisonment. We
affirmed. Boldin v. State, 373 Ark. 295, ___ S.W.3d ___ (2008).
On July 25, 2008, appellant filed in the trial court a pro se petition for postconviction relief
pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1. The petition was denied, and appellant
lodged an appeal here from the order. Now before us is a motion filed by the appellee State asking
that the appeal be dismissed on the ground that the Rule 37.1 petition was not timely filed.
The motion is granted. 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. Booth v. State, 353 Ark. 119, 110
S.W.3d 759 (2003) (per curiam). It is clear from the record lodged in this appeal that appellant’s
Rule 37.1 petition was not timely filed and, as a result, he cannot prevail on appeal.1
Where the judgment of conviction was affirmed on appeal, Arkansas Rule of Criminal
Procedure Rule 37.2(c) requires that the petition for postconviction relief be filed within sixty days
of the issuance of the appellate court’s mandate. In appellant’s case, the mandate was issued on May
13, 2008, and the Rule 37.1 petition was filed seventy-three days later. The time limitations imposed
in Rule 37.2(c) are jurisdictional in nature, and the circuit court may not grant relief on an untimely
petition. Womack v. State, 368 Ark. 341, 245 S.W.3d 154 (2006) (per curiam).
Motion granted; appeal dismissed.
Danielson, J., not participating.
1
While the circuit court’s order was founded on the untimely filing of the petition, the petition
exceeded the page-limit set forth in Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1(b). It was thus subject to
dismissal on that basis even if it had been timely filed.
-2-
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