Case Title: Cedric Harris v. State of Arkansas

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: arkansas

Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Date: 1999-07-01T00:00:00Z

Document:
Cedric Lamar HARRIS v. STATE of Arkansas

CR 96-782                                          ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered January 13, 1997


New trial -- notice of appeal not timely filed -- appeal dismissed.
     -- If a posttrial motion in the nature of a motion for a new
     trial or amendment of judgment is not resolved by the trial
     court within thirty days from the date of its filing, it is
     deemed denied under Rule 2 of the Appellate Rules of Procedure
     -- Criminal; here, appellant's new-trial motion was filed on
     October 16, 1995, and under Rule 2 the motion was deemed
     denied thirty days later, on November 15, 1995; appellant had
     thirty days within which to file his appeal which date ended
     on December 15, 1995; he waited until January 2, 1996, to file
     his notice of appeal, accordingly, appellant's appeal was
     dismissed.


     Appeal from Ashley Circuit Court; Don Glover, Judge; appeal
dismissed.
     Morehead & Morehead, by:  Robert F. Morehead, for appellant.
     Winston Bryant, Att'y Gen., by:  Kelly K. Hill, Deputy Att'y
Gen., for appellee.

     Tom Glaze, Justice.
     Appellant Cedric Lamar Harris appeals from his convictions for
capital murder and attempted murder for which he received the
respective sentences of life without parole and thirty years'
imprisonment.  He raises two points for reversal, one, that the
trial court wrongly rejected his motion to dismiss on speedy-trial
grounds, and, two, the trial court erred in denying his motion for
directed verdict.  The State, however, suggests that Harris's
appeal was filed untimely, and we agree.  Therefore, we dismiss the
appeal.
     On October 5, 1995, the Ashley County Circuit Court entered
its conviction judgment against Harris, and Harris filed a motion
for new trial on October 16, 1995, asserting juror misconduct.  On
December 6, 1995, fifty-one days after the filing of Harris's
motion, the trial court entered its order denying the motion. 
Harris later filed his notice of appeal on January 2, 1996.
     In a per curiam opinion delivered on January 21, 1994, this
court amended its rules of criminal procedure to clarify that, if
a posttrial motion in the nature of a motion for a new trial or
amendment of judgment is not resolved by the trial court within
thirty days from the date of its filing, it is deemed denied under
Rule 4(c) of the Appellate Rules of Procedure.  See In Re: 
Amendment to Rule 36.9 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure
Regarding Time and Method of Taking Criminal Appeal, 315 Ark. 770
(1994); see also Giacona v. State, 311 Ark. 664, 846 S.W.2d 185
(1993).  The court subsequently readopted this rule and made it a
part of Rule 2 of the Appellate Procedure--Criminal Rules, which
superseded former A.R.Cr.P. Rule 36.9. But see Dodson v. State, 326
Ark. 637, ____ S.W.2d ____ (1996) (court held "deemed denied"
provision does not apply to Rule 37 petitions); see also Collins v.
State, 324 Ark. 322, 920 S.W.2d 846 (1996).
     In the present case, Harris's new trial motion was filed on
October 16, 1995, and under Rule 2, the motion was deemed denied
thirty days later, on November 15, 1995.  Accordingly, Harris had
thirty days within which to file his appeal which date ended on
December 15, 1995.  Instead, he waited until January 2, 1996, to
file his notice of appeal.  Although the trial court belatedly
denied Harris's new trial motion on December 5th, it had no
jurisdiction to do so.  See Rossi v. Rossi, 319 Ark. 373,