Case Title: Larry James Osborn v. State of Arkansas

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Docket Number: 

State: arkansas

Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Date: 2007-11-29T00:00:00Z

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ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT No. CR 07­974 LARRY JAMES OSBORN Petitioner v. STATE OF ARKANSAS Respondent Opinion Delivered November 29, 2007 PRO SE MOTION FOR BELATED APPEAL [CIRCUIT COURT OF SALINE COUNTY, CR 96­203, HON. GARY M. ARNOLD, JUDGE] MOTION DENIED. PER CURIAM In 1998, petitioner Larry James Osborn was found guilty by a jury ofaggravated robbery and sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment. The trial court ordered re­sentencing upon motion of petitioner for a new trial. The State appealed to this court, and we directed the trial court to reinstate the life sentence. Osborn v. State, 337 Ark. 172, 988 S.W.2d 485 (1999). Petitioner thereafter challenged his conviction based on a speedy­trial violation, and this court affirmed his conviction. Osborn v. State, 340 Ark. 444, 11 S.W.3d 528 (2000). Subsequently, petitioner timely filed in the trial court a pro se petition for relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. He later filed a motion for leave to file an amended Rule 37.1 petition. The trialcourt denied the petition and the motion for leave to amend without a hearing on April 17, 2006. Petitioner attempted to file a notice of appeal after entry of the final order, but the notice was returned to petitioner as being untimely. Petitioner now seeks leave to proceed with a belated appeal from the order pursuant to Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 2(e). Therein, he maintains that on the notice of appeal he mistakenly listed the ­2­ date of the final order as April 28, 1999. The unfiled notice was returned to him by the trial judge on May 15, 2006, with a letter stating that it was untimely. In his motion for belated appeal, petitioner claims that the trial judge erroneously concluded that the notice was untimely. It appears from the partial record tendered by petitioner, and petitioner’s motion, that only the trial judge received the notice of appeal. If so, a trial judge is not required to file a notice of appeal for a petitioner, even if the notice is received by the judge within the period allowed to file a notice of appeal. Thompson v. State, 280 Ark. 163, 655 S.W.2d 424 (1983) (per curiam). Notices of appeal are to be filed with the circuit clerk in accordance with Ark. R. App. P.–Civil 3(b). Key v. State, 297 Ark. 111, 759 S.W.2d 567 (1988) (per curiam). It is not the responsibility of anyone other than the petitioner to perfect an appeal by following the prevailing rules of procedure. Sullivan v. State, 301 Ark. 352, 784 S.W.2d 155 (1990) (per curiam). Petitioner has stated no good cause for his failure to timely file a notice of appeal. Motion denied.