Colston v. Kelley
Colston v. Kelley
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Curtis Colston appeals the circuit court's denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-112-101 (Repl. 2016). Colston argues on appeal that there were multiple errors in his trial, there were errors in the Arkansas Court of Appeals' decision in his direct appeal, and this court erred in denying his petition for review. He also contends that the circuit court was wrong to hold that his petition was not timely filed under Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1 (2016). Because Colston's petition was filed as a petition for writ of habeas corpus, and he stated no ground for relief cognizable in a habeas proceeding, we affirm the order.
I. Background
In 2016, Colston was found guilty by a Miller County Circuit Court jury of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by certain persons and sentenced as a habitual offender to an aggregate term of 360 months' imprisonment. The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed. Colston v. State ,
II. Grounds for Issuance of the Writ
A writ of habeas corpus is proper when a judgment of conviction is invalid on its face or when a circuit court lacks jurisdiction over the cause. Philyaw v. Kelley ,
*267Under our statute, a petitioner for the writ who does not allege his actual innocence and proceed under Act 1780 of 2001 must plead either the facial invalidity of the judgment or the lack of jurisdiction by the trial court and make a showing by affidavit or other evidence of probable cause to believe that he is being illegally detained.
III. Standard of Review
A circuit court's decision on a petition for writ of habeas corpus will be upheld unless it is clearly erroneous. Hobbs v. Gordon ,
IV. Claims of Trial Error
The issues raised by Colston in his petition concerned the admissibility of evidence and errors in his trial, in the direct appeal, and in this court's denial of his petition for review.
V. Consideration of Habeas Petition under Rule 37.1
While the circuit court was correct when it noted that Colston's petition was untimely if considered as a petition pursuant to Rule 37.1, the circuit court was not the trial court. Colston's petition was filed in Pulaski County only because he was incarcerated in that county. It is axiomatic that any petition for writ of habeas corpus to effect the release of a prisoner is properly addressed to the circuit court in which the prisoner is held in custody, unless the petition is filed pursuant to Act 1780. Gardner v. Kelley ,
Affirmed.
Hart, J., dissents.
Josephine Linker Hart, Justice, dissenting.
I am mindful that our case law has substantially narrowed the circumstances under which relief under our state habeas corpus statute may be had. However, in light of the Supreme Court of the United States' rejection of this limit on habeas corpus when it reversed Jackson v. Norris ,
In his brief, Colston summarized the issues raised in his habeas petition in the following manner: (1) can the admissibility of photographic evidence be based on more than two theories of authentication; (2) under either the pictorial-communication theory or the silent-witness theory of photographic authentication, can either theory be applied based solely on what a witness heard; (3) can a witness testify to the accuracy of an event even if that witness was not present to witness the event; (4) can the belated recognition of an individual image in video footage be enough to authenticate the entire video recording if the witness has not provided testimony material and relevant to what the proponent claimed; (5) can a video recording provide testimony to a jury in a criminal trial without providing the accused the right to confront the witness therein; (6) is it constitutional or fundamentally fair for the accused to be denied recourse to address the wrong when he has not had the right to confront all witnesses who provided testimony.
In accordance with Rule 37.2(c)(ii), a petition claiming relief under the Rule must be filed in the trial court within sixty days of the date the mandate issued if the judgment was appealed. White v. State ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Curtis COLSTON v. Wendy KELLEY, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published