Lee v. State, 2015 Ark. 26

Terry Antonio Lee was convicted of terroristic act, attempted first-degree battery, and four counts of aggravated assault; conviction affirmed by Arkansas Court of Appeals in 2013.
Mandate issued April 16, 2013; Lee timely filed a Rule 37.1 postconviction petition on June 3, 2013.
Trial court denied the Rule 37.1 petition by order entered April 16, 2014.
Rule 37.3(d) requires the circuit clerk to promptly mail the order to the petitioner; Lee alleges he did not receive the order until May 9, 2014.
Lee filed a notice of appeal on May 19, 2014 (after the 30-day deadline); he moved for a belated appeal, claiming lack of prompt mailing by the clerk.
The State did not contest Lee’s allegation that the order was not timely mailed; the Supreme Court granted the motion for belated appeal and directed the clerk to lodge the record and set briefing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether good cause exists for a belated appeal from denial of a Rule 37.1 petition	Clerk did not promptly mail the April 16, 2014 order; Lee did not receive it until May 9, 2014, causing delay in filing notice of appeal	State did not respond to dispute; record contains no affidavit proving the order was mailed	Good cause shown where court failed to comply with Rule 37.3(d); belated appeal granted
Whether the clerk’s failure to mail the order excuses the late filing under Arkansas appellate rules	Late filing resulted from lack of notice, not petitioner’s fault	State offered no evidence to refute lack of notice	Where record silent and no proof of mailing, assume petitioner was not properly notified; Rule 37.3(d) breach excuses untimely appeal

Bean v. State, 2014 Ark. 440 (per curiam) (petitioner has right to appeal a Rule 37.1 denial but belated appeal requires good cause)
Nelson v. State, 2013 Ark. 316 (per curiam) (failure to comply with Rule 37.3(d) can constitute good cause for excusing untimely notice of appeal)