Cameron Virgil v. State of Arkansas ( 2023 )

Cite as 2023 Ark. App. 241ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION III
No. CR-22-627
CAMERON VIRGIL Opinion Delivered April 26, 2023
APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM THE FAULKNER
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
V. [NO. 23CR-20-736]
STATE OF ARKANSAS HONORABLE H.G. FOSTER, JUDGE
APPELLEE
DISMISSED
CINDY GRACE THYER, Judge
Cameron Virgil appeals the Faulkner County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition
for ineffective assistance of counsel filed pursuant to Rule 37 of the Arkansas Rules of
Criminal Procedure. We dismiss for lack of verification of his Rule 37 petition.
On January 7, 2022, after a bench trial, the Faulkner County Circuit Court found
Virgil guilty of aggravated assault and kidnapping and sentenced him to consecutive
sentences of 120 months’ and 420 months’ imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of
Correction.1 On January 20, Virgil filed a pro se letter requesting Rule 37 relief. Shortly
thereafter, Virgil obtained counsel, and counsel filed an amended petition for Rule 37 relief
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Virgil filed his first notice of appeal from the sentencing order (case number CR-22-
467); however, he did not timely lodge the record on appeal, and his motion to accept the
transcript was denied.
without first obtaining leave from the circuit court. The circuit court denied the petition.
Virgil timely filed his notice of appeal.
Virgil’s appeal must be dismissed for lack of verification. Rule 37.1(c) and (d) provide
the following:
The petition shall be accompanied by the petitioner’s affidavit, sworn to before
a notary or other officer authorized by law to administer oaths, in substantially the
following form:
AFFIDAVIT
The petitioner states under oath that (he) (she) has read the foregoing petition
for postconviction relief and that the facts stated in the petition are true,
correct, and complete to the best of petitioner’s knowledge and belief.
__________
Petitioner’s signature
Subscribed and sworn to before me the undersigned officer this ___ day of
__________, 20___.
__________
Notary or other officer
(d) The circuit clerk shall not accept for filing any petition that fails to comply with
subsection (c) of this rule. The circuit court or any appellate court shall dismiss any
petition that fails to comply with subsection (c) of this rule.
Neither Virgil’s pro se petition for Rule 37 relief nor the amended petition for relief
under Rule 37 contains the above affidavit or any semblance of one, and neither is notarized.
Likewise, Virgil’s counsel’s entry of appearance and motion for transcript for Rule 37
proceedings does not contain the above affidavit in substantial form, though it does contain
this unnotarized “VERIFICATION” clause:
VERIFICATION
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I, Cameron Virgil, do hereby swear that the statement and matters contained herein
are true to the best of my knowledge and belief and only for the purposes of my Rule
37 petition.
Virgil’s petitions for Rule 37 relief are fundamentally flawed because they do not
contain the above affidavit in substantial form, and they are not notarized. The verification
requirement for a postconviction-relief petition is of substantive importance to prevent
perjury. See Randle v. State, 2016 Ark. 228, 493 S.W.3d 309; Ransom v. State, 2009 Ark. 215(per curiam); Carey v. State, 268 Ark. 332, 596 S.W.2d 688 (1980). We dismiss the appeal
without reaching the merits.
Dismissed.
VIRDEN and HIXSON, JJ., agree.
Eugene Clifford, for appellant.
Tim Griffin, Att’y Gen., by: Walker K. Hawkins, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.
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