ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
No. CR 07-418
JAMES EVERETT NELSON
Appellant
v.
STATE OF ARKANSAS
Appellee
Opinion Delivered September 27, 2007
APPELLEE’S MOTION TO DISMISS
APPEAL [CIRCUIT COURT OF
WASHINGTON COUNTY, CR 2002-
2121, HON. KIM MARTIN SMITH,
JUDGE]
MOTION GRANTED; APPEAL
DISMISSED.
PER CURIAM
In 2003, a jury found appellant James Everett Nelson guilty of possession of drug
paraphernalia with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of pseudoephedrine and,
in 2004, the trial court sentenced him to an aggregate sentence of 600 months’ imprisonment in the
Arkansas Department of Correction. Appellant appealed the judgment and the Arkansas Court of
Appeals reversed. Nelson v. State, 92 Ark. App. 275, 212 S.W.3d 31 (2005). However, on review,
this court affirmed the trial court. Nelson v. State, 365 Ark. 314, 229 S.W.3d 35 (2006). The
mandate issued on March 7, 2006.
On February 5, 2007, appellant filed a pro se pleading in the trial court in Washington County
styled “Petition to Correct Illegal Sentence.” The trial court denied the petition, and appellant lodged
an appeal of that order in this court. The State now brings a motion to dismiss the appeal, arguing
that appellant’s petition was a petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1, and that
we must dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The State asserts that, because appellant’s petition was a
-2-
petition under Rule 37.1, it must be verified in accordance with Rule 37.1(c) and filed within sixty
days of the date the mandate issued under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.2(c). We agree that the trial court did
not have jurisdiction to grant relief upon appellant’s petition, that the petition was properly dismissed
for that reason, and we must dismiss the appeal on that basis.
Appellant’s petition did not reference Rule 37.1, nor did it reference Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-
111 (Supp. 2005), or any other rule or statute as authority for a grant of relief. In fact, appellant did
not clearly state in his petition on what basis