Mitchell v. State, No. 4984

CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
Writing for the CourtROBINSON
Citation232 Ark. 371,337 S.W.2d 663
Decision Date06 June 1960
Docket NumberNo. 4984
PartiesLonnle B. MITCHELL, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

Page 663

337 S.W.2d 663
232 Ark. 371
Lonnle B. MITCHELL, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.
No. 4984.
Supreme Court of Arkansas.
June 6, 1960.
Rehearing Denied Sept. 12, 1960.

Thad D. Williams and Christopher C. Mercer, Jr., Little Rock, for appellant.

Bruce Bennett, Atty. Gen., By: Bill J. Davis, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

ROBINSON, Justice.

On the 11th day of April, 1959, appellant, Lonnie B. Mitchell, was convicted of rape and sentenced to death. On appeal to this Court the judgment was affirmed on September 21, 1959. Mitchell v. State, Ark., 327 S.W.2d 384. On January 14, 1960, appellant filed in the Union Circuit Court, where he was originally tried, a motion to vacate the judgment. This is

Page 664

an appeal from an order overruling the motion.

It is alleged in the motion that appellant is a Negro and that it is the custom and practice in Arkansas to sentence Negro men to death for raping white women, but that white men are not sentenced to death for rape; that Negroes were systematically excluded from the jury which tried him; that he is an ignorant youth (he was 23 years of age at the time); that he did not have access to effective assistance of counsel; that a purported confession made by appellant was coerced and not voluntary;[232 Ark. 372] that at the time of the trial he was insane and not mentally present at the trial; that he was insane at the time of the commission of the rape; that he is presently insane; and that he was denied an examination by a private psychiatrist prior to his trial. Nothing is alleged in the motion that was not or could not have been raised on appeal in the first instance except the allegation of present insanity.

In affirming the original judgment, this Court said: 'We have carefully examined the entire record. The appellant had a fair trial free from error.' The judgment was affirmed and the mandate issued. In these circumstances the trial court did not have jurisdiction to set aside the judgment. In the case of Fortenberry v. Frazier et al., 5 Ark. 200, this Court said: 'The Supreme Court, except where bills of review, in cases of equity, and writs in the nature of a writ of error coram nobis, in suits at law, may be prosecuted, possesses no power to review, revise, or reform its adjudications and opinions after the expiration of the term in which they are pronounced and recorded, unless they are suspended by an order made at that term; and they irrevocably conclude the rights of...

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10 practice notes
  • Mitchell v. Stephens, No. PB 62 C 24.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States State District Court of Eastern District of Arkansas
    • August 6, 1964
    ...was made to the United States Supreme Court. Petitioner's motion to vacate the state court judgment was denied. Mitchell v. State, 232 Ark. 371, 337 S.W.2d 663 (1960), as was also a petition for habeas corpus, Mitchell v. State, 233 Ark. 578, 346 S.W.2d 201 (1961), as well as a writ of cora......
  • Mitchell v. Stephens, No. 17835.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)
    • November 24, 1965
    ...the judgment on a number of grounds. This motion was denied by the trial court. On appeal the denial was affirmed. Mitchell v. State, 232 Ark. 371, 337 S.W.2d 663 (1960). Mitchell then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Jefferson County Circuit Court (where the state penite......
  • Stewart v. Stephens, No. PB-65-C-2.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States State District Court of Eastern District of Arkansas
    • July 23, 1965
    ...post-conviction procedure resulting from that decision was severely restricted, if not completely eliminated, by Mitchell v. State, 232 Ark. 371, 337 S.W. 2d 663 (1960), which limited the Swagger case to those cases which had not been 36 Contra, United States ex rel. Milford v. McMann, 231 ......
  • Mitchell v. State, No. 4950
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Arkansas
    • March 5, 1962
    ...we affirmed the conviction of Mitchell for rape. The second case was Mitchell v. State (Case No. 4984, decided September 12, 1960), Ark., 337 S.W.2d 663, in which we held that the Circuit Court of Union County had no jurisdiction to hear a Motion to Vacate the Judgment of Conviction in the ......
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10 cases
  • Mitchell v. Stephens, No. PB 62 C 24.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States State District Court of Eastern District of Arkansas
    • August 6, 1964
    ...was made to the United States Supreme Court. Petitioner's motion to vacate the state court judgment was denied. Mitchell v. State, 232 Ark. 371, 337 S.W.2d 663 (1960), as was also a petition for habeas corpus, Mitchell v. State, 233 Ark. 578, 346 S.W.2d 201 (1961), as well as a writ of cora......
  • Mitchell v. Stephens, No. 17835.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)
    • November 24, 1965
    ...the judgment on a number of grounds. This motion was denied by the trial court. On appeal the denial was affirmed. Mitchell v. State, 232 Ark. 371, 337 S.W.2d 663 (1960). Mitchell then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Jefferson County Circuit Court (where the state penite......
  • Stewart v. Stephens, No. PB-65-C-2.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States State District Court of Eastern District of Arkansas
    • July 23, 1965
    ...post-conviction procedure resulting from that decision was severely restricted, if not completely eliminated, by Mitchell v. State, 232 Ark. 371, 337 S.W. 2d 663 (1960), which limited the Swagger case to those cases which had not been 36 Contra, United States ex rel. Milford v. McMann, 231 ......
  • Mitchell v. State, No. 4950
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Arkansas
    • March 5, 1962
    ...we affirmed the conviction of Mitchell for rape. The second case was Mitchell v. State (Case No. 4984, decided September 12, 1960), Ark., 337 S.W.2d 663, in which we held that the Circuit Court of Union County had no jurisdiction to hear a Motion to Vacate the Judgment of Conviction in the ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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