Summary
The Supreme Court of Arkansas denied Kenny James Travis, Jr.’s pro se motion, treating it as a motion for belated appeal from the denial of his habeas corpus petition. The court held that Travis failed to establish good cause for not filing a timely notice of appeal because he did not demonstrate that his earlier-mailed notice was received by the circuit clerk, and Arkansas had not adopted the prison mailbox rule.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Travis's motion for a rule on the clerk and belated appeal should be treated as a motion for belated appeal.
- Whether Travis established good cause for failing to file a timely notice of appeal from the denial of his habeas petition.
- Whether Arkansas should apply a prison mailbox rule deeming a filing complete when delivered to the prison mail room.
Holdings
- A motion seeking a rule on the clerk and permission for a belated appeal is properly treated as a motion for belated appeal when the notice of appeal was not timely filed.
- A belated appeal from the denial of postconviction habeas relief will not be allowed absent a showing of good cause for failure to comply with the applicable appellate procedure, and Travis failed to make that showing.
- Arkansas does not apply a prison mailbox rule under which a filing is deemed filed when placed in the prison mail room; an item tendered to a court is filed when received by the clerk.
- Under Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure–Civil 4(a) (2013), a notice of appeal from the June 6, 2014 order was due within thirty days, with the deadline extended to Monday, July 7, because July 6 fell on a Sunday.
Key quotations
“As this court stated in McDaniel, an item tendered to a court is considered filed on the date that it is received by the clerk.” (at 2)
“It is not the responsibility of the circuit clerk, or anyone other than the party desiring to appeal, to perfect the appeal.” (at 3)
Factual background
Travis, an Arkansas Department of Correction inmate, filed a petition for habeas corpus in Jefferson County, where he was incarcerated. The circuit court denied the petition on June 6, 2014. Travis did not establish that a notice of appeal mailed on June 24 was received by the circuit clerk, and the only notice of appeal in the record was filed on July 15, after the applicable deadline.
Procedural history
The Jefferson County Circuit Court denied Travis's habeas petition on June 6, 2014. No timely notice of appeal was filed. Travis later filed a notice of appeal on July 15, 2014, and moved in the Supreme Court of Arkansas for a rule on the clerk and belated appeal, asserting that he had previously mailed a notice of appeal on June 24. The Supreme Court treated the motion as one for belated appeal and denied it.