Roberts v. State (Majority)
Annotate this CaseIn 2000, Appellant Karl Roberts was convicted of the capital murder of a twelve-year-old and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Appellant signed a waiver of his right to pursue an appeal and postconviction remedies. In 2003, the circuit court entered an order stating that Robert had knowingly and intelligently waived all rights to postconviction relief. The Supreme Court affirmed. In 2008, Roberts filed a petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.5. The circuit court denied the petition, finding that the petition was untimely filed and Roberts was not entitled to relief. The Supreme Court dismissed Roberts's appeal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, holding (1) where the ninety-day filing period under rule 37.5 has expired and a waiver of postconviction relief has been affirmed by the Court, a petitioner must file the appropriate motion to reopen postconviction proceedings before a rule 37 petition can be brought in circuit court; and (2) because this was not done in the present case, the circuit court was without jurisdiction to entertain Roberts's rule 37.5 petition, and the Supreme Court was likewise without jurisdiction to hear an appeal from any decision of the circuit court in the matter.
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