Court Opinion

ID: 7824316
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-07 18:03:21.431414+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:30:49.134225
License: Public Domain

Per Curiam. The petitioner Robert Elkins’ petition pursuant to Criminal Procedure Rule 37 was denied by the trial court on December 19, 1988. Petitioner now seeks a belated appeal from the order which denied the Rule 37 petition. He contends that he mailed a timely notice of appeal to the circuit clerk on some unspecified day in December, but the record does not reflect that a notice of appeal was filed with the circuit clerk. He provides a copy of a letter to him from the circuit judge indicating that the judge received a copy of the notice of appeal.  We will grant a belated appeal of an order denying a petition for post-conviction relief if good cause is shown for the petitioner’s failure to file a timely notice of appeal with the clerk. Peterson v. State, 289 Ark. 452, 711 S.W.2d 830 (1986). The fact that a litigant is proceeding pro se does not excuse him from the responsibility for conforming to the rules of procedure. Peterson v. State, supra; Walker v. State, 283 Ark. 339, 676 S.W.2d 460 (1984); Thompson v. State, 280 Ark. 163, 655 S.W.2d 424 (1983). We have held that the mere allegation that a petitioner mailed a notice of appeal without some substantiation is not good cause to grant a belated appeal. Key v. State, 297 Ark. 111, 759 S. W.2d 567 (1988); Alexander v. State, 282 Ark. 216, 667 S.W.2d 366 (1984). As we said in Alexander v. State, supra, if it were, there would be no point in setting up rules of procedure since the procedural requirements could be circumvented by a simple claim that the petitioner’s failure to comply with the rules was caused by the post office. It may be that the petitioner here mailed a copy of the notice of appeal to the circuit judge, but the circuit judge was not obligated to determine whether the original notice of appeal was received by the circuit clerk. Key v. State, supra. Motion denied. Purtle, J., dissents.