Anderson v. Kelley
Anderson v. Kelley
Opinion of the Court
This is appellant Theodore Anderson's third appeal from an order denying his pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus. We affirm because Anderson's habeas petition raises only issues that this court has previously considered and rejected
Following a bench trial, Anderson was convicted on charges of residential burglary, domestic battering, and rape. The trial court imposed an aggregate sentence of 240 months' imprisonment. The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed. Anderson v. State , CR 07-900,
In a subsequent habeas petition, Anderson pursued the same issues. Once again, the circuit court rejected Anderson's petition and this court affirmed its ruling. Anderson v. Kelley ,
In his present habeas petition, Anderson continues to allege that the trial court lacked jurisdiction because his case was incorrectly filed in a juvenile court. He *915also contends that he is illegally detained insofar as his arrest was procedurally defective, he was not properly arraigned and did not enter a plea on the record, the criminal information charging him was defective, and the deputy prosecuting attorney did not have authority to sign the information.
A circuit court's decision on a petition for habeas relief is upheld unless it is clearly erroneous. Hobbs v. Gordon ,
Anderson frames his allegations as issues of jurisdiction. Yet his claims, with one exception, are simply allegations of trial error. While claims of defective information that raise a jurisdictional issue-such as a claim of an illegal sentence-are cognizable in habeas proceedings, general defective information allegations are not. Clay v. Kelley ,
The defective information claims advanced in Anderson's petition are claims of trial error. Because a writ of habeas corpus will not be issued to correct errors or irregularities that occurred at trial, his claims fall outside the scope of remedy afforded by the writ. Barber v. Kelley ,
Anderson's only viable allegation is that the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to try adult, criminal cases. But as this court previously explained, this claim is without merit.
The circuit court did not clearly err in declining to issue the writ.
Affirmed; motion to correct docket number granted; motion for appointment of counsel moot.
Hart, J., concurs.
*916Josephine Linker Hart, Justice, concurring.
While I agree with the majority's disposition of this case, I write separately because I cannot sign on to the majority's intimation that an allegation of a defective information is somehow a claim of "trial error." Allegations of deficiencies in the information are traditionally addressed with a motion to quash filed in the circuit court, before the jury decides guilt at trial. See, e.g., Nance v. State ,
I concur.
Anderson filed two motions in which he requests appointment of counsel and permission to replace the cover sheet on his brief-in-chief to reflect the correct circuit court docket number. As we affirm, we find the motion for appointment of counsel moot. We grant his motion to correct the docket number.
In his brief on appeal, Anderson includes some arguments not raised in the habeas petition. This court will not consider arguments that were not raised below. Halfacre v. Kelley ,
The appellee contends that the law-of-the-case doctrine should bar Anderson's arguments. However, this court will consider additional facts raised in support of a jurisdictional argument; those arguments are not barred as law-of-the-case. Cloird v. State ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Theodore ANDERSON v. Wendy KELLEY, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction
- Cited By
- 13 cases
- Status
- Published