Opinion
No. CR-19-42
02-05-2020
TERRANCE BILLUPS APPELLANT v. STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE
Terrance Billups, pro se appellant. Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Rachel Kemp, Sr. Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.
APPEAL FROM THE BENTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
[NO. 04CR-15-1299] HONORABLE ROBIN F. GREEN, JUDGE REMANDED TO SUPPLEMENT THE RECORD; SUPPLEMENTAL ADDENDUM ORDERED BRANDON J. HARRISON, Judge
Terrance Billups appealed the circuit court's denial of his petition for postconviction relief and its decision to do so without a hearing. This court remanded for supplementation of the record and addendum because we were unable to confirm our jurisdiction. Specifically, we ordered the circuit clerk to provide a supplemental record with a copy of the envelope in which Billups's Rule 37 petition was received, and if the clerk had failed to retain the envelope, we ordered the circuit court to hold a hearing to settle the record, to the extent possible, and enter an order that provides findings on the date that the petition was received by the clerk, the date of the postmark on the envelope, and the filing date of the petition. Billups v. State, 2019 Ark. App. 514.
A fifty-page supplemental record has been filed, and Billups filed a supplemental addendum based on that record; however, the supplemental record does not contain the information we requested. The requested envelope has not been included, nor did the circuit court hold a hearing or make any findings on the date that the petition was received by the clerk. As noted in our previous opinion, the date that Billups's petition was received by the circuit court is essential to our review concerning whether Rule 37.2(g) has been satisfied.
Therefore, once again, we remand for the circuit clerk to provide a supplemental record with a copy of the envelope. If the clerk has failed to retain the envelope, then the circuit court must hold a hearing to settle the record, to the extent possible, and enter an order that provides findings on the date that the petition was received by the clerk, the date of the postmark on the envelope, and the filing date of the petition. To be clear, we expect a supplemental record that consists of the requested envelope or a short transcript of a hearing convened by the circuit court to settle the record on the issue of when Billups's Rule 37 petition was received by the circuit clerk's office and the date of the postmark on the envelope.
The supplemental record, including the transcript of any hearing conducted, is to be returned within fifteen days of this order. We also order Billups to file a supplemental addendum containing the contents of the supplemental record within fifteen days after the supplemental record has been filed. See Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-2(b)(4) (2019).
Remanded to supplement the record; supplemental addendum ordered.
GLADWIN and WHITEAKER, JJ., agree.
Terrance Billups, pro se appellant.
Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Rachel Kemp, Sr. Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.