State v. Clark, 263 So. 3d 957

Tory N. Clark was indicted for second-degree murder; convicted by a jury in January 2015 and sentenced to life with parole eligibility after 35 years.
After the trial court granted a motion for appeal in February 2015, this court vacated Clark’s original sentence and remanded for the trial court to rule on post-trial motions and, if denied, to resentence.
On remand the trial court denied Clark’s post-verdict motions and resentenced him on February 29, 2016; Clark did not file a motion to reconsider sentence or a timely written appeal within 30 days.
Clark filed a Motion for Out of Time Appeal on June 12, 2018, which the trial court granted on June 14, 2018.
The appellate court concluded Clark’s out-of-time appeal was untimely under La. C.Cr.P. art. 930.8 (two-year filing limit for post-conviction relief) and that no statutory exception applied, so the trial court lacked jurisdiction to grant relief.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Clark’s out-of-time appeal was timely under La. C.Cr.P. art. 930.8	State: Clark’s application was filed more than two years after his conviction and sentence became final, so untimely	Clark: Sought reinstatement of appeal rights via out-of-time appeal filed June 12, 2018	Held: Untimely; filed more than two years after February 29, 2016 finality date, dismissal warranted
Whether an exception to the two-year limit applies to permit an out-of-time appeal	State: No exception alleged or proven under Art. 930.8(A)	Clark: Did not allege newly discovered facts or rely on any Art. 930.8 exception	Held: No applicable exception (A(1)–(4)), so trial court lacked jurisdiction to grant relief

State v. Johnson, 128 So.3d 325 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2013) (remand/resentencing jurisdictional considerations)
State v. Clark, 180 So.3d 602 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2015) (prior appellate disposition in this matter)
State v. Jupiter, 922 So.2d 1245 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2006) (finality after failure to timely appeal)
State v. Gray, 902 So.2d 1060 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2005) (post-conviction relief as remedy for out-of-time appeal)
State v. Daigle, 593 So.2d 676 (La. App. 3 Cir. 1991) (trial court lacks jurisdiction to grant untimely post-conviction relief)
State v. Theard, 904 So.2d 681 (La. 2005) (timeliness/jurisdictional limits on post-conviction relief)
State ex rel. Glover v. State, 660 So.2d 1189 (La. 1995) (appellate courts may raise timeliness sua sponte)
State v. Brown, 202 So.3d 585 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2016) (dismissal for untimely out-of-time appeal)
State v. Russell, 167 So.3d 917 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2015) (same)