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State v. Markham10/7/2004
trial motion was deemed denied. Relying on Harris, this court held:
In the present case, Appellant's motion for new trial was deemed denied as of November 3, 1996. Accordingly, Appellant had thirty days within which to file a notice of appeal from that denial, which expired on December 3, 1996. It is of no benefit to Appellant that the trial court belatedly denied the motion for new trial on February 24, 1997, as the trial court lacked jurisdiction to so rule. Therefore, because Appellant did not file his notice of appeal of the order denying the motion for new trial until February 26, 1997, we dismiss this part of the appeal.
Id. at 617-18, 953 S.W.2d at 54 (citation omitted) (emphasis added).
More recently, in Davis v. State, 350 Ark. 22, 86 S.W.3d 872 (2002), this court had another occasion to discuss the "deemed denied" rule. There, the appellant argued that the trial court erred in refusing to hear his posttrial motions. The motions were filed on November 21, 2000, and a hearing was set for December 4. Pursuant to an agreement of the parties, however, the hearing was reset for January 17, 2001. At that hearing, the trial court determined that it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the posttrial motions because they had already been deemed denied under Rule 33.3(c) as of the thirtieth day, which would have been December 21, 2000. This court agreed with the trial court, holding: "The posttrial motions were deemed denied on the 30th day. Therefore, there was nothing to be heard on the motions on January 17, 2001." Id. at 41, 86 S.W.3d at 884.
In the present case, the record reflects that Markham was convicted on November 21, 2003. On December 16, he filed a posttrial motion for reconsideration under Rule 33.3. On December 18, Markham was sentenced by the court. The judgment and commitment order was entered one week later, on December 26. Because the posttrial motion was filed prior to the entry of the judgment, his posttrial motion did not become effective until the date the judgment was filed, December 26. See Ark. R. Crim. P. 33.3(b). Shortly thereafter, on January 6, 2004, Markham reported to the circuit court to begin serving his prison sentence. Some three months later, on April 6, the trial court granted the posttrial motion for reconsideration and entered an order of acquittal.
Under Rule 33.3(c), Markham's posttrial motion for reconsideration was deemed denied on January 26, 2004, and the trial court lost jurisdiction to rule on the merits of the motion after that date. Accordingly, the ruling made on April 6, which resulted in the entry of an order of acquittal, was of no legal effect. We therefore grant a writ of certiorari and hold that the judgment of conviction entered on December 26, 2003, remains valid and enforceable.
Writ of certiorari granted.
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