Fowler v. State , 2013 Ark. 340 ( 2013 )

Cite as 2013 Ark. 340SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
No. CR-12-481
Opinion Delivered September 19, 2013
JAMIE LYNN FOWLER PRO SE MOTION FOR RULE ON
PETITIONER CLERK [YELL COUNTY CIRCUIT
COURT, 75CR-08-33, HON. JERRY
V. RAMEY, JUDGE]
STATE OF ARKANSAS
RESPONDENT MOTION DENIED.
PER CURIAM
In 2010, petitioner Jamie Lynn Fowler was found guilty by a jury of manufacturing
methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia, and he was sentenced as a habitual
offender to an aggregate term of 780 months’ imprisonment. The Arkansas Court of Appeals
affirmed. Fowler v. State, 2011 Ark. App. 321. Petitioner subsequently filed in the circuit court
a pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1
(2010). The petition was denied on October 5, 2011. Petitioner timely filed a notice of appeal
from the order on October 19, 2011, but he did not tender the record to this court within ninety
days of the date of the notice of appeal as required by Arkansas Rule of Appellate
Procedure–Criminal 4(b) (2011).1 Now before us is petitioner’s pro se motion for rule on clerk
seeking to file the record belatedly.
We deny the petition because it is clear from the partial record tendered by petitioner that
he could not prevail on appeal if the motion were granted. 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
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The record was tendered 236 days after the notice of appeal was filed.
Cite as 2013 Ark.
appellant could not prevail. Glaze v. State, 2013 Ark. 141 (per curiam); Paige v. State, 2013 Ark.
135 (per curiam); Crain v. State, 2012 Ark. 412 (per curiam); Hatton v. State, 2012 Ark. 286 (per
curiam).
Criminal Procedure Rule 37.1 requires that a petition filed under the Rule be verified.
Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1(c)–(d); see Riley v. State, 2010 Ark. 347 (per curiam) (citing Nelson v. State,
363 Ark. 306, 213 S.W.3d 645 (2005) (per curiam)). Rule 37.1(c) provides a form of affidavit
to be attached to the petition. The verification requirement for a petition for postconviction
relief is of substantive importance to prevent perjury. Paige, 2013 Ark. 135; Riley, 2010 Ark. 347.
For that purpose to be served, the petitioner must sign the petition and execute the requisite
affidavit or verification. Riley, 2010 Ark. 347 (citing Boyle v. State, 362 Ark. 248, 208 S.W.3d 134(2005) (per curiam)).
Petitioner’s petition for postconviction relief was not accompanied by the required
verification; thus, petitioner did not meet the requirements of Rule 37.1(c). Rule 37.1(d) requires
that the circuit clerk reject an unverified petition and that the circuit court or any appellate court
must dismiss a petition that fails to comply with the requirements of Rule 37.1(c). Paige, 2013
Ark. 135.
Motion denied.
Jamie Lynn Fowler, pro se petitioner.
No response.
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