Hooper v. State, CR–05–1381
| Decision Date | 12 March 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. CR–05–1381,CR–05–1381 |
| Citation | 2015 Ark. 108,458 S.W.3d 229 |
| Parties | Danny Lee Hooper, Petitioner v. State of Arkansas, Respondent |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Danny Lee Hooper, pro se petitioner.
Dustin McDaniel, Att'y Gen., by: Brad Newman, Ass't Att'y Gen., for respondent.
In 2005, petitioner Danny Lee Hooper was found guilty by a jury of three counts of rape, kidnapping, robbery, residential burglary, and third-degree battery and sentenced as a habitual offender to an aggregate sentence of 1,320 months' imprisonment. The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed, noting that evidence was adduced at trial, which included the victim's testimony and DNA testing, that petitioner had entered the victim's house at night and engaged in vaginal and anal intercourse with her. Hooper v. State, CR–05–1381, 2006 WL 2502235 (Ark.App. Aug. 30, 2006) (unpublished). Subsequently, petitioner filed in the trial court a timely petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1 (2005). The petition was denied. Petitioner appealed from the order to this court, and we dismissed the appeal as it was clearly without merit. Hooper v. State, CR–07–816, 2007 WL 4201161 (Ark. Nov. 29, 2007) (unpublished per curiam).
In 2013, petitioner filed in this court a petition and an amended petition requesting that this court reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court so that he could proceed with a petition for writ of error coram nobis. We denied the relief sought. Hooper v. State, 2014 Ark. 16, 2014 WL 197785 (per curiam).
On January 14, 2015, petitioner filed a second petition in this court to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis. The second petition and a subsequent amendment to it are now before us. We find no basis stated in the petition to warrant issuance of the writ and thus deny leave to proceed in the trial court.
A petition for leave to proceed in the trial court is necessary because the circuit court can entertain a petition for writ of error coram nobis after a judgment has been affirmed on appeal only after we grant permission. Chestang v. State, 2014 Ark. 477, 2014 WL 6065634 (per curiam); Charland v. State, 2013 Ark. 452, 2013 WL 5968924 (per curiam); Cromeans v. State, 2013 Ark. 273, 2013 WL 3179379 (per curiam). This court will grant such permission only when it appears the proposed attack on the judgment is meritorious. Echols v. State, 354 Ark. 414, 418, 125 S.W.3d 153, 156 (2003). In making such a determination, we look to the reasonableness of the allegations of the petition and to the existence of the probability of the truth thereof. Id.
A writ of error coram nobis is an extraordinarily rare remedy, more known for its denial than its approval. Cromeans, 2013 Ark. 273, 2013 WL 3179379 ; Howard v. State, 2012 Ark. 177, 403 S.W.3d 38. The writ is allowed only under compelling circumstances to achieve justice and to address errors of the most fundamental nature. McDaniels v. State, 2012 Ark. 465, 2012 WL 6218480 (per curiam). We have held that a writ of error coram nobis is available to address certain errors that are found in one of four categories: insanity at the time of trial, a coerced guilty plea, material evidence withheld by the prosecutor, or a third-party confession to the crime during the time between conviction and appeal. Charland, 2013 Ark. 452, 2013 WL 5968924 ; Cromeans, 2013 Ark. 273, 2013 WL 3179379 ; 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 that would have prevented its rendition if it had been known to the circuit court and which, through no negligence or fault of the defendant, was not brought forward before rendition of judgment. Mooney v. State, 2014 Ark. 453, 447 S.W.3d 121 (per curiam); Cloird v. State, 2011 Ark. 303, 2011 WL 3135958 (per curiam). The petitioner has the burden of demonstrating a fundamental error of fact extrinsic to the record. Williams v. State, 2011 Ark. 541, 2011 WL 6275431 (per curiam). Coram-nobis proceedings are attended by a strong presumption that the judgment of conviction is valid. Roberts v. State, 2013 Ark. 56, 425 S.W.3d 771 ; Carter v. State, 2012 Ark. 186, 2012 WL 1435672 (per curiam); Penn v. State, 282 Ark. 571, 670 S.W.2d 426 (1984) (citing Troglin v. State, 257 Ark. 644, 519 S.W.2d 740 (1975) ).
As he did in his original petition to this court, petitioner argues as grounds for the writ that he was incompetent at the time of trial and was denied his right to present an insanity defense by his attorney's ineffectiveness and the failure of the State and others to reveal certain medical reports. Petitioner attributes his impaired intellectual functioning to a gunshot wound to the head that he suffered some years before trial and an accident on an all-terrain motor vehicle. He alleges that he now has newly discovered evidence to support his claims for the writ that is contained in those newly acquired medical records pertaining to the effects of the injuries, particularly the gunshot injury. He contends that the psychiatrist, Dr. Robin Ross, who conducted a pretrial examination on him, had some medical records when she made her diagnosis but that she ignored the records he has now obtained and that Dr. Ross failed to secure them. Petitioner avers that the recently obtained medical records from the prior examinations and prior psychological testing demonstrate that Dr. Ross's conclusion that he was competent was wrong. He urges this court to accept this newly discovered evidence as proof that a viable insanity defense could have been raised at trial if Dr. Ross and the prosecuting attorney at his trial had not wrongfully withheld the evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). Petitioner further faults his attorney for not obtaining the evidence and mounting a successful insanity defense.
We first note that, to the extent that the claims raised were intended by petitioner to be allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel, such allegations are not cognizable in a coram-nobis proceeding. Mackey v. State, 2014 Ark. 491, 2014 WL 6602313 (per curiam). Assertions of inadequate counsel are properly brought pursuant to Rule 37.1. Schrader v. State, 2014 Ark. 379, 441 S.W.3d 1 (per curiam). We have consistently held that a petition for writ of error coram nobis is not a substitute for raising claims of ineffective assistance of counsel under Rule 37.1. Mackey, 2014 Ark. 491, 2014 WL 6602313 ; Mason v. State, 2014 Ark. 288, 436 S.W.3d 469 (per curiam).
Prior to trial, petitioner was examined by Dr. Ross pursuant to a motion filed by the defense. Dr. Ross diagnosed him with drug and alcohol dependency and an antisocial personality disorder, and she concluded that petitioner did not have a mental disease or defect when he committed the crimes, did not lack the capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct, and did not lack the capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. The gunshot injury to petitioner's head was discussed at a pretrial hearing, but, at that time, the trial court declined to grant a continuance to allow petitioner to obtain the records to be submitted to the doctor.
This court held when the first coram-nobis petition was denied that petitioner had presented nothing in his petition to establish that there would have been a different outcome at trial if the doctor had the medical records inasmuch as the doctor determined that petitioner was competent at the time of the offense and at the time of trial. We further noted that petitioner had not shown that any particular information in the medical report would have caused the doctor to reach a different assessment. While insanity at the time of trial is a ground for the writ, the burden is on the petitioner who claims a history of mental defect or illness to overcome the strong presumption that the judgment was valid. Accordingly, we held when the original coram-nobis petition was denied that the mere fact that petitioner may have had a head injury or injuries before Dr. Ross examined him was not, in itself, sufficient cause to warrant issuance of the writ.
In this second petition to reinvest jurisdiction to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis, petitioner reiterates the claims raised in the first petition. The sole difference in the instant petition is that petitioner states that he has obtained the medical records that were not available to him at...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Mitchell v. State
...violation of Brady v. Maryland , 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and a ground for granting the writ. Hooper v. State , 2015 Ark. 108, 458 S.W.3d 229 (per curiam). The rule set out in Brady also encompasses evidence known only to police investigators and not to the prosecu......
-
Carter v. State
...newly discovered information, which might have created an issue to be raised at trial had it been known. Hooper v. State , 2015 Ark. 108, at 6–7, 458 S.W.3d 229, 233 (per curiam). To establish that newly discovered evidence is a basis for the writ, the facts as alleged as grounds for the wr......
-
Carter v. State, CR–08–1385
...newly discovered information, which might have created an issue to be raised at trial had it been known. Hooper v. State , 2015 Ark. 108, at 6–7, 458 S.W.3d 229, 233 (per curiam). To establish that newly discovered evidence is a basis for the writ, the facts as alleged as grounds for the wr......
-
Williams v. State
...of Brady v. Maryland , 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and a ground for granting the writ. Hooper v. State , 2015 Ark. 108, 458 S.W.3d 229 (per curiam). The United States Supreme Court held in Brady that "the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accu......