Appellant, Tony Lamont Cooley, appeals a judgment of the Pulaski County Circuit Court convicting him of robbery, residential burglary, felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of theft of property. The circuit court tried appellant and sentenced him as a habitual offender with four or more prior felonies to concurrent sentences resulting in a term of fifty years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Appellant’s sole point of error in the proceedings below is the failure of the judgment to reflect the trial court’s statement from the bench that he receive jail credit for one year and three days. Jurisdiction is properly in this court pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. l-2(a)(2).
The state does not dispute that appellant is entitled to the jail credit pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-404 (Repl. 1993). According to the state, the judgment does not reflect the jail credit due to a clerical mistake. Consequently, the state does not object to modification of the judgment to reflect the credit. The state does argue, however, that appellant did not seek relief from the trial court prior to filing this appeal and therefore suggests the case should be remanded for modification.
Appellant contends we should address his argument, even though it is made for the first time on appeal, either because he received an illegal sentence or because, pursuant to Wicks v. State,
First, an illegal sentence is one that is illegal on its face. Delph v. State,
In the conclusion of his brief, appellant cites Arkansas Code Annotated § 16-65-119(b) (1987) as authority for this court to modify the judgment on appeal. However, subsection (c) of that statute provides that the proceedings to obtain modification shall be by appeal as prescribed by law. It is well-settled law that issues raised for the first time on appeal are not considered by this court. E.g., Rhoades v. State,
This court has previously decided that a request for jail time credit is a request for modification of a sentence imposed in an illegal manner. Delph,
Because modification of the sentence is the only issue raised on appeal, and because both parties agree as to the correction of the sentence, we are somewhat inclined to modify the judgment and affirm as modified. See Walters v. State,
Appellant is not left without a remedy, however. As applied to this case, Rule 37.2(c) provides that if an appeal was taken of the judgment of conviction, a petition for relief under the rule must be filed with the circuit court within sixty days of the issuance of the mandate or dismissal of the appeal. Thus, appellant has sixty days from this dismissal to seek correction of his sentence which was imposed in an illegal manner.
The appeal is dismissed.
