Martinez-Marmol v. State
Martinez-Marmol v. State
Opinion of the Court
Petitioner Gilberto Martinez-Marmol, who was convicted in 2012 of three counts of rape, brings this petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis.
The trial court cannot entertain a petition for writ of error coram nobis after a judgment has been affirmed on appeal unless this court grants permission. Carner v. State ,
The writ is allowed under compelling circumstances to achieve justice and to address errors of the most fundamental nature.
Mental-Incompetency Claims
Martinez-Marmol contends that he was tried while mentally incompetent. Within this claim, Martinez-Marmol raises several arguments, including: that the records of the proceedings indicated that the trial judge acted with "fraudulent" and "deceitful" tactics of judicial misconduct regarding the issuance of transport orders and that the filing of the transport orders and hearing dates conflicted, resulting in "fraudulent" charges of time against speedy trial; that, because his IQ was not tested, there was a measurement of error in the evaluations and findings that he was fit to proceed and was able to appreciate the criminality of his conduct; that, due to the lack of an IQ test, his mental retardation was not considered, which was error; that the prosecutor committed prosecutorial misconduct by admitting false evidence because the prosecutor was aware that the "required IQ test" had not been conducted; and that the trial court should have conducted its own competency hearing or review where there existed conflicting evidence in the evaluations.
To the extent Martinez-Marmol's allegations address his mental incompetence or insanity at the time of trial, that evidence was adduced at the time of trial and was available at trial. Martinez-Marmol makes no assertion that there was any evidence extrinsic to the record that was hidden from the defense or unknown at the time of trial. See Larimore v. State ,
Martinez-Marmol's assertions of prosecutorial misconduct for the admission of "false evidence" could have been raised at trial and are not allegations of material evidence that was withheld by the prosecutor. The petitioner seeking to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court to proceed with a coram nobis petition bears the burden of presenting facts to support the claims for the writ because an application for the writ must make a full disclosure of specific facts relied on and not merely *53state conclusions as to the nature of such facts.
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Martinez-Marmol contends his trial counsel was ineffective because counsel had a conflict of interest, failed to secure a defense and call witnesses, and failed to make reasonable efforts to procure the testimony of an alibi witness. As with his first claim, Martinez-Marmol raises several arguments within this generalized claim. The majority of the claims are not claims of ineffective assistance of counsel but include claims that the criminal information filed in his case is invalid and defective on its face because it lacks the prosecutor's signature and that the prosecutor engaged in prosecutorial misconduct (1) by issuing a defective arrest warrant thirty-two days after he was detained; (2) by maliciously prosecuting him based on the illegally obtained confession; (3) by withholding material evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland ,
To the extent that Martinez-Marmol has argued that his counsel was ineffective, those claims are not cognizable in a coram nobis proceeding under our state law. Coram nobis proceedings are not to be used as a substitute for raising claims of ineffective assistance of counsel under our postconviction rule. Griffin v. State ,
*54Martinez-Marmol's claim regarding the defect in the criminal information could have been discovered or raised in the trial court. See Beard v. State ,
To the extent Martinez-Marmol raises a claim of a Brady violation regarding the prosecution withholding material evidence, his claim fails because he does not allege sufficient facts in support. To establish a Brady violation, three elements are required: (1) the evidence at issue must be favorable to the accused, either because it is exculpatory or because it is impeaching; (2) that evidence must have been suppressed by the State, either willfully or inadvertently; and (3) prejudice must have ensued. Jones v. State ,
Martinez-Marmol's allegations regarding the defective arrest warrant, the use of the illegally obtained confession, and failure to establish that he knowingly and intelligently waived his Miranda rights are also not cognizable in a coram nobis proceeding. Martinez-Marmol does not make any assertion that the facts surrounding the issuance of the warrant or his confession were facts that he was unaware of at the time of trial. See generally Smith v. State ,
Petition denied.
Martinez-Marmol's conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Martinez-Marmol v. State ,
Martinez-Marmol asserted that the prosecutor made improper comments during opening statements, voir dire, and closing statements; made improper comments on his confession; and presented fabricated evidence-all claims that could have been raised at trial or on direct appeal if a contemporaneous objection had been made to the comments, as they do not involve evidence extrinsic to the record. Cloird ,
To the extent Martinez-Marmol raises an allegation of judicial bias regarding any discrepancy in the trial court's transport orders and the orders setting hearings, Martinez-Marmol's claims are not extrinsic to the record and do not demonstrate an actual bias. Brown v. State ,
In his direct appeal, the court of appeals noted the fact that Martinez-Marmol did not object to the detective's testimony on the grounds that the testimony was illegally obtained. Martinez-Marmol ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Gilberto MARTINEZ-MARMOL v. STATE of Arkansas
- Cited By
- 38 cases
- Status
- Published