Dickerson v. State
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ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
No.
CR 09-286
Opinion Delivered
May 14, 2009
PRO SE MOTION FOR APPEAL BY
PERMISSION [CIRCUIT COURT OF
SEBASTIAN COUNTY, FT. SMITH
DISTRICT, CR 2003-276, HON. JAMES
R. MARSCHEWSKI, JUDGE]
ARTHUR E. DICKERSON
Petitioner
v.
STATE OF ARKANSAS
Respondent
MOTION TREATED AS MOTION FOR
RULE ON CLERK AND DENIED.
PER CURIAM
In 2004, petitioner Arthur E. Dickerson was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder and
sentenced to life imprisonment. We affirmed. Dickerson v. State, 363 Ark. 437, 214 S.W.3d 811
(2005). Subsequently, petitioner filed in the trial court a pro se petition for postconviction relief
pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1. The trial court denied the petition in an order
entered on January 4, 2006, and petitioner timely filed a pro se notice of appeal from the order.
On March 19, 2009, petitioner filed a motion in this court to proceed with an appeal by
permission, that is, to lodge the record belatedly and proceed with an appeal from the order.
Petitioner tendered a partial record with the motion.
If a notice of appeal was timely filed, a motion for belated appeal is properly treated as a
motion for rule on clerk pursuant to Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 2-2(b). Mitchem v. State, 374
Ark. 157, ___ S.W.3d ___ (2008) (per curiam). In this matter, the motion for appeal by permission
is thus treated as a motion for rule on clerk.
All litigants, including those who proceed pro se, must bear responsibility for conforming
to the rules of procedure or demonstrating good cause for not doing so. Gibson v. State, 298 Ark.
43, 764 S.W.2d 617 (1989). If a petitioner fails to tender the record in an appeal in a timely fashion,
the burden is on the petitioner to make a showing of good cause for the failure to comply with proper
procedure. Garner v. State, 293 Ark. 309, 737 S.W.2d 637 (1987) (per curiam). The fact that a
petitioner is proceeding pro se does not in itself constitute good cause for the failure to conform to
the prevailing rules of procedure. Walker v. State, 283 Ark. 339, 676 S.W.2d 460 (1984) (per
curiam).
The time in which a record on appeal must be lodged in the appellate court is governed by
Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure–Civil 5 and made applicable to criminal cases by Arkansas
Rule of Appellate Procedure–Criminal 4(a). Pursuant to Civil Appellate Procedure Rule 5(a), the
appeal record must be filed within ninety days from the date the notice of appeal was filed in the trial
court.
Here, petitioner filed the notice of appeal in the trial court in 2006 and the instant motion in
this court in 2009. Although far more than ninety days have elapsed since the notice of appeal was
filed, petitioner does not address the lateness of the partial record tendered here or state good cause
for his failure to comply with procedural time limitations. He simply requests leave to proceed with
the appeal in order to demonstrate manifest injustice alleged to have occurred in the underlying
criminal matter. Petitioner has demonstrated no good reason to proceed with an appeal from the trial
court’s order denying the Rule 37.1 petition.
Motion treated as motion for rule on clerk and denied.
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