Jones v. State

• Decision Date: 19 March 2015
• Docket Number: No. CR-14-211,CR-14-211
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court
• Parties: QUENTON VERNARD JONES APPELLANT v. STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE

2015 Ark. 119

QUENTON VERNARD JONES APPELLANT v. STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE

No. CR-14-211

SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS

March 19, 2015

APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, FIRST DIVISION

[NO. CR2012-622]

HONORABLE JAMES LEON JOHNSON, JUDGE

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

JOSEPHINE LINKER HART, Associate Justice

Quenton Vernard Jones pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, a sentencing enhancement for committing the crimes with a firearm, and a sentencing enhancement for committing the crimes in the presence of a child. Jones subsequently filed a petition seeking postconviction relief in which he asserted that he had entered the pleas as a result of ineffective assistance of counsel. The circuit court denied the petition without a hearing. On appeal, Jones argues that the circuit court erred in denying his petition without a hearing. We reverse and remand the circuit court's decision.

Jones was initially charged with capital murder and attempted capital murder, but his counsel, Ronald Davis, negotiated an agreement whereby the State would reduce the charges to first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in exchange for his guilty pleas and his agreement to testify against his codefendants. At the plea hearing, the State alleged thatJones and Ivor Gordon went to an apartment on Green Mountain Drive in Little Rock, where Edwina Martin and her ten-year-old son were visiting her boyfriend, Daniel Hill. Jones shot Hill in the head, killing him. Martin was shot twice, but she survived. The State noted that the plea was conditioned on Jones truthfully testifying against Gordon and against Danny Brown, who allegedly hired Jones and Gordon to kill Martin.

At the hearing, Jones stated that he understood the charges against him and the penalty range for the crimes. He further admitted that he understood that by pleading guilty, he was giving up certain rights. He acknowledged that the plea statement he had signed provided that he freely, knowingly, and voluntarily pleaded guilty because he was guilty. Jones pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and the two sentencing enhancements. The plea was accepted, and sentencing was postponed.

Jones subsequently filed a pro se motion alleging that Davis was ineffective, and he sought both the appointment of new counsel and the withdrawal of his guilty pleas. In his motion, Jones made several allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel, including that Davis had coerced him and had not conferred with him, provided him with discovery, or explained the charges. In its order, the circuit court treated Jones's pro se motion as a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and after considering Jones's statements at the plea hearing and Davis's responsibilities in representing Jones, denied the motion without a hearing. Davis sought to withdraw from the case, and Jones retained new counsel, Dana Reece. Reece filed a motion asking the circuit court to reconsider its denial of the petition to withdraw the guilty plea and allow Reece to litigate the issue. The circuit court denied the motion without ahearing. Reece filed an amended motion asking the court to reconsider its denial, and the court again denied the motion without a hearing. Thereafter, a sentencing hearing was held, and Jones received a total sentence of 660 months' imprisonment.

Reece then filed Jones's Rule 37 petition seeking postconviction relief. The petition asserted that, prior to the entry of the plea, Davis had limited conversations with Jones concerning facts and legal issues in the case and that Davis had refused to provide him with discovery materials. Further, the petition alleged that, when Davis approached Jones about the plea, he gave Jones the impression that Jones would receive a suspended sentence. The petition alleged that Davis had claimed that he had a close relationship with the presiding judge, whom he referred to as his "frat brother." Additionally, the petition asserted that Davis never informed him about the sentencing enhancements and that he learned that he would face a substantial amount of imprisonment only after he entered his guilty pleas. The petition clearly asserted that had Jones been better informed about the sentencing enhancements and the law, had he been able to review the discovery material, and had he not relied on his counsel's statements about his ability to persuade the court, he would not have entered his guilty plea, and that but for his counsel's ineffective assistance, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have gone to trial.

The circuit court denied Jones's petition without a hearing. In its written order, the circuit court noted that in the plea agreement, Jones acknowledged that he was satisfied with his attorney's services and that his plea had not been induced by any force, threat, or promise, apart from the plea agreement. The court also considered Jones's statements at the plea hearing.The court further observed that Jones had failed to provide in his petition any reason for failing to mention during the plea hearing the allegations outlined in his petition. The circuit court stated that to prevail on a petition for postconviction relief, the "petitioner must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's error, the fact finder would have had a reasonable doubt respecting guilt." The circuit court found that Jones had "failed to show that counsel was ineffective and in error."

On appeal, Jones contends that the circuit court, in requiring...