Sparacio v. State
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Cite as 2010 Ark. 335
SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
No.
CR 10-252
Opinion Delivered
September 16, 2010
PRO SE MOTIONS FOR BELATED
APPEAL AND FOR WRIT OF
CERTIORARI TO COMPLETE THE
RECORD [CIRCUIT COURT OF
CRAWFORD COUNTY, CR 2005-457,
HON. GARY R. COTTRELL, JUDGE]
WOODRUFF T. SPARACIO
Petitioner
v.
STATE OF ARKANSAS
Respondent
MOTION FOR BELATED APPEAL
DENIED; MOTION FOR WRIT OF
CERTIORARI MOOT.
PER CURIAM
In 2005, petitioner Woodruff T. Sparacio was found guilty by a jury of two counts of
rape and was sentenced by the court to 480 months’ imprisonment in the Arkansas
Department of Correction on each count, those sentences to run concurrently. The Arkansas
Court of Appeals affirmed. Sparacio v. State, CACR 07-1025 (Ark. App. Apr. 29, 2009)
(unpublished).
Petitioner through retained counsel filed an unverified petition for
postconviction relief pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1 (2010), which
was denied by the trial court after a hearing. The trial court order denying relief on the
petition was entered on August 10, 2009.
Petitioner filed a notice of appeal in the Crawford County Circuit Clerk’s office on
September 10, 2009, thirty-one days after the trial court’s order was entered. When the
record on appeal was tendered to this court on March 9, 2010, our clerk declined to lodge
Cite as 2010 Ark. 335
it as untimely, as petitioner was required to file his notice of appeal in the circuit clerk’s office
within thirty days of the entry of the trial court’s order. Ark. R. App. P.—Crim. 2(a)(4)
(2010). Now before us are petitioner’s motions for belated appeal and for writ of certiorari
to complete the record.
Petitioner alleges that the Crawford County Circuit Clerk’s office did not promptly
send him a copy of the court’s order denying relief, as required by Arkansas Rule of Criminal
Procedure 37.3(d), and that, under Porter v. State, 287 Ark. 359, 698 S.W.2d 801 (1985), such
failure entitles petitioner to pursue a belated appeal. However, because it is clear that
petitioner could not prevail on his appeal, we deny petitioner’s motion for belated appeal, and
his motion for writ of certiorari is moot.
An appeal from an order that denied a petition for postconviction relief will not be
permitted to go forward where it is clear that the appellant could not prevail. Watkins v. State,
2010 Ark. 156 (per curiam) (citing Pierce v. State, 2009 Ark. 606 (per curiam)). Arkansas Rule
of Criminal Procedure 37.1(d) provides that a petitioner in custody under sentence of a circuit
court claiming a right to be released, or to have a new trial, or to have the original sentence
modified on the ground that the sentence is subject to collateral attack, may file a verified
petition in the court which imposed the sentence. Shaw v. State, 363 Ark. 156, 211 S.W.3d
506 (2005); see Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1(d). Rule 37.1(c) dictates the form and substance of an
affidavit of verification, noting that it must be signed by the petitioner. Subsection (e) of
Rule 37.1 further provides that petitions which are not in compliance with the rule will not
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Cite as 2010 Ark. 335
be filed without leave of the court.
In the instant case, the original Rule 37.1 petition filed on petitioner’s behalf by his
retained counsel contained only the reproduced signature of counsel and lacked any signature
whatsoever from petitioner. Nor did petitioner sign a verification affidavit, as there was no
such affidavit appended to the petition. The docket sheet contained in the tendered record
does not reflect that the trial court granted leave for trial counsel to file the unverified
petition.
This court has explained that the verification requirement for a postconviction-relief
petition is of substantive importance to prevent perjury. Shaw, 363 Ark. 156, 211 S.W.3d
506. In order for that purpose to be served, the petitioner must execute the verification, and,
if the petitioner is represented by counsel, counsel may not sign and verify the petition for
him. See Boyle v. State, 362 Ark. 248, 208 S.W.3d 134 (2005). Where a petition is not
verified, and where there is not explicit leave from the trial court for petitioner to file an
unverified petition, a trial court shall dismiss the petition without consideration of the issues
contained therein. See Bunch v. State, 370 Ark. 113, 257 S.W.3d 533 (2007).
Where an appeal is filed from the denial of relief on a petition that does not meet the
strictures of Rule 37.1(c), the appellant could not prevail if allowed to proceed, and we will
dismiss the appeal. See id. It follows logically, then, that, if we would dismiss a timely filed
appeal due to an original Rule 37.1 petition’s lack of verification, we would likewise deny
a motion to pursue a belated appeal from such a petition. Petitioner’s remaining motion for
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Cite as 2010 Ark. 335
writ of certiorari to complete the record is accordingly moot.
Motion for belated appeal denied; motion for writ of certiorari moot.
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