A. Introduction
B. The Requirements of ASCR 2-4
1. Filing the Petition
2. Contents of the Petition
3. Response to the Petition
C. Granting a Petition for Review
1. Notification from the Clerk
2. Supplemental Briefs
3. Changing History
A. Introduction
An opinion of the Court of Appeals might not be the end of your case, even if the court has denied a petition for rehearing. See Chapter 13. Under certain circumstances, the Supreme Court will grant a petition to review an opinion of the Court of Appeals de novo. Goodloe v. Goodloe, 2014 Ark. 300, at 1, 439 S.W.3d 5, 5. In other words, if the Supreme Court grants review, it will treat the appeal as if it had been originally filed in the Supreme Court and address the issues anew. Granting review, however, does not guarantee a different result; it simply means the Supreme Court will review the case anew. E.g., Curtis v. Lemna, 2014 Ark. 377 (granting petition for review but reaching same result as the vacated Court of Appeals opinion).
You cannot petition the Arkansas Supreme Court to review a Court of Appeals decision on a motion other than a motion to dismiss the appeal. Glass v. State, 341 Ark. 300, 301-02, 16 S.W.3d 543, 545 (2000).
B. The Requirements of ASCR 2-4
1. Filing the Petition
A petition to the Supreme Court for review of a Court of Appeals decision must be filed (with a $25 filing fee) within 10 calendar days after the end of the rehearing period for a Court of Appeals decision. ASCR 2-4(a). The rehearing period ends when the time to petition for rehearing under ASCR 2-3(a) expires or when the Court of Appeals has disposed of the last pending petition for rehearing, whichever is later. Id. If the petitioner files the petition before the rehearing period ends, the petition will be marked "tendered" and deemed filed on the day after the rehearing period ends. Id.
Only a party to the appeal can file a petition for review. ASCR 2-4(b).
In rare cases, the Supreme Court may grant permission to file a belated petition for review. See, e.g., Porter v. State, 315 Ark. 160, 865 S.W.2d 300 (1993) (granting request to file belated petition where attorney for criminal defendant admitted error in calculating the time to file a petition). Such relief is unlikely, especially in civil appeals, so meet the deadline.
2. Contents of the Petition
ASCR 2-4(d) states the grounds on which the Supreme Court may grant a petition for review, and one must be argued in the petition:
• the Court of Appeals decided the case by a tie vote;
• the Court of Appeals rendered a decision that conflicts with a prior holding of a published opinion of the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals; or
•...
