Title: Terry W. Traynor v. State of Arkansas

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION PER CURIAM NOVEMBER 30, 2000 TERRY W. TRAYNOR Appellant v. STATE OF ARKANSAS Appellee CR 00-768 PRO SE MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL [CIRCUIT COURT OF CARROLL COUNTY, WESTERN DISTRICT, NO. CR 97-22-1, HON. ALAN D. EPLEY, JUDGE] MOTION DENIED AND APPEAL DISMISSED On July 7, 1998, judgment was entered reflecting that Terry W. Traynor had pleaded guilty to five felony offenses for which an aggregate sentence of thirty-six months' imprisonment was imposed. An additional forty-eight months' imprisonment was suspended. On December 17, 1999, Traynor filed in the trial court a petition for postconviction relief which he labeled a petition for writ of habeas corpus under federal law. Because the petition raised grounds cognizable under Criminal Procedure Rule 37, the court treated the petition as a Rule 37 petition. See Williams v. State, 291 Ark. 255, 724 S.W.2d 158 (1987). The court denied the petition, and the record on appeal from that order has been lodged here. Now before us is a motion filed by appellant Traynor seeking appointment of counsel. The motion is denied, and the appeal dismissed because the petition filed in the trial court was untimely. This court has consistently held that an appeal of the denial of postconviction relief will not be permitted to go forward when it is clear that appellant could not prevail in the appeal. Seaton v. State, 324 Ark. 236, 920 S.W.2d 13 (1996); Harris v. State, 318 Ark. 599, 887 S.W.2d 514 (1994); Reed v. State, 317 Ark. 286, 878 S.W.2d 376 (1994); see Chambers v. State, 304 Ark. 663, 803 S.W.2d 932 (1991); Johnson v. State, 303 Ark. 560, 798 S.W.2d 108 (1990); Williams v. State, 293 Ark. 73, 732 S.W.2d 456 (1987). Criminal Procedure Rule 37.2(c) provides in pertinent part that a petition under the rule is untimely if not filed within ninety days of the date the judgment was entered following a plea of guilty. Appellant filed his Rule 37 petition more than seventeen months after the judgment was entered and was thus procedurally barred from proceeding under the rule. The time limitations imposed in Criminal Procedure Rule 37 are jurisdictional in nature; as a result, a circuit court cannot grant relief on an untimely petition. Maxwell v. State, 298 Ark. 329, 767 S.W.2d 303 (1989). Motion denied and appeal dismissed.