Deaton v. State
| Decision Date | 05 June 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. CR 07-1198.,CR 07-1198. |
| Parties | Keith Allen DEATON, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
In 1977, appellant Keith Allen Deaton entered a guilty plea in Independence County Circuit Court to charges of capital murder and burglary and received concurrent sentences of life imprisonment without parole and twenty years' incarceration. In 2007, appellant filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis in the trial court, which was denied without a hearing. Appellant now brings this appeal of that order.
Appellant's sole point on appeal is that the trial court erred by denying the writ without a hearing. Appellant asserts that he was entitled to a hearing on the petition because the petition presented allegations of a fundamental error of fact extrinsic to the record, that the fact was not known to the trial court at the time the judgment was entered, and that the failure to disclose the fact did not result from the defendant's negligence or fault. The trial court denied the petition on the basis that appellant failed to show due diligence in his application for the writ. Because the petition clearly did not show due diligence in bringing a timely petition, we affirm the trial court's denial of the writ without a hearing.
A writ of error coram nobis is an extraordinarily rare remedy, more known for its denial than its approval. State v. Larimore, 341 Ark. 397, 17 S.W.3d 87 (2000). The writ is allowed only under compelling circumstances to achieve justice and to address errors of the most fundamental nature. Pitts v. State, 336 Ark. 580, 986 S.W.2d 407 (1999) (per curiam). The function of the writ is to secure relief from a judgment rendered while there existed some fact which would have prevented its rendition if it had been known to the trial court and which, through no negligence or fault of the defendant, was not brought forward before rendition of judgment. Thomas v. State, 367 Ark. 478, 241 S.W.3d 247 (2006) (per curiam).
In those instances, as here, where the judgment of conviction was entered on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or the judgment of conviction was not appealed, the petition for writ of error coram nobis is filed directly in the trial court. If the judgment of conviction was affirmed on appeal, the petitioner must first proceed in this court and gain leave to file a petition in the trial court by means of a petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis. Dansby v. State, 343 Ark. 635, 37 S.W.3d 599 (2001) (per curiam). Denial of a writ of error coram nobis is reviewed by appeal. Magby v. State, 348 Ark. 415, 72 S.W.3d 508 (2002) (per curiam).
The standard of review of the denial of a writ of error coram nobis is whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the writ. Id. at 420, 72 S.W.3d at 510. An abuse of discretion occurs when the circuit court acts arbitrarily or groundlessly. Clorid v. State, 357 Ark. 446, 182 S.W.3d 477 (2004). Here, the trial court did not abuse its discretion to deny the petition without a hearing.
In his petition, appellant alleged that the cause of death of the murder victim was an infection unrelated to the injuries inflicted by appellant. He contended that, because certain medical records were unavailable to the medical examiner who prepared the autopsy report, this information was unavailable at the time that appellant entered his guilty plea. On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court should have allowed him to present evidence at a hearing in order to establish these facts. He further contends that the trial court was required to provide a hearing if there was a possibility that he might succeed and that the determination as to whether petitioner had exercised due diligence was a factual inquiry that merited a hearing.
Where a petition for writ of error coram nobis is filed directly in the trial court, a hearing is not required if the petition clearly has no merit, either in that it fails to state a cause of action to support issuance of the writ, or where it is clear from the petition that the petitioner did not act with due diligence. Appellant cites to Clorid as supporting the proposition that a hearing is required to provide the petitioner with an opportunity to meet the burden of proof for issuance of the writ. But, Clorid was a case where this court had previously granted a petition to reinvest jurisdiction...
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Thompson v. State
...a writ of error coram nobis, due diligence is required in making an application for relief. Flanagan, 2010 Ark. 140; Deaton v. State, 373 Ark. 605, 285 S.W.3d 611 (2008). Due diligence requires that (1) the defendant be unaware of the fact at the time of the trial; (2) the defendant could n......
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Green v. State
...vacate a plea and sentence, but this is an "extraordinarily rare remedy, more known for its denial than its approval." Deaton v. State, 373 Ark. 605, 285 S.W.3d 611 (2008) (citing State v. Larimore, 341 Ark. 397, 17 S.W.3d 87 (2000)). This particular writ is "allowed only under compelling c......
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Burks v. State
...due diligence is required in making an application for relief. Flanagan v. State, 2010 Ark. 140 (per curiam); Deaton v. State, 373 Ark. 605, 285 S.W.3d 611 (2008) (per curiam). Due diligence requires that (1) the defendant be unaware of the fact at the time of the trial; (2) the defendant c......
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Weekly v. State
... ... Deaton v. State, 373 Ark. 605, 285 S.W.3d 611 (2008). Appellant also asserts on appeal that the prosecution violated Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), by not providing the following items to the defense: the victims' pretrial statements that would have ... ...