Martin v. State
Martin v. State
Opinion of the Court
Pending before this court is a pro se second petition filed by petitioner Lawrence Edward Martin to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis. The State has filed a response to Martin's petition, and Martin subsequently filed a pending motion seeking leave to file a response to the State's response. Also pending is Martin's motion for file-marked copies at public expense of his petition, exhibits attached to the petition, his motion for leave to respond, and "any and all responses from the respondent should the court denie [sic] the petition." Finally, Martin has filed a motion for appointment of counsel.
Martin was convicted of the capital murder of his mother that was committed in the course of an aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. We affirmed the conviction and sentence. Martin v. State ,
The petition for leave to proceed in the trial court is necessary because the trial court can entertain a petition for writ of error coram nobis after a judgment has been affirmed on appeal only after we grant permission. Roberts v. State ,
The writ is allowed only under compelling circumstances to achieve justice and to address errors of the most fundamental nature.
In his first coram nobis petition, Martin raised three grounds for relief: that his arrest was a pretext for an illegal search; that the trial court failed to order a mental evaluation; and that new evidence showed that additional charges had been dismissed. See Martin v. State ,
In his second petition, Martin has raised multiple overlapping and conclusory grounds for relief that include allegations of a prejudicial jury-selection process; misleading and erroneous jury instructions; an unlawful arrest; prosecutorial misconduct; violation of his right to due process; ineffective assistance of counsel; and failure by this court to address adverse rulings on direct appeal in compliance with Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 4-3(h) (1995).
This court will grant permission to proceed with a petition for the writ only when it appears, looking to the reasonableness of the allegations in the proposed petition and the existence of the probability of the truth of those allegations, that the proposed attack on the judgment is meritorious. Jones v. State ,
Here, Martin raises conclusory allegations regarding errors that occurred during the course of his trial and on direct appeal. Martin's allegations regarding the jury-selection process, erroneous jury instructions, an illegal arrest, and violations of his right to due process are all matters that were known and should have been challenged either at the time of Martin's trial or on direct appeal.
Finally, Martin's claim that this court failed to properly perform a Rule 4-3(h) review on direct appeal is equally unavailing. This court's opinion on direct appeal establishes that such a review was conducted, and in any event, errors that occurred on direct appeal could have been addressed in a petition for rehearing before the mandate of this court was issued. Hall v. State ,
Finally, Martin has filed a motion seeking copies at public expense of documents filed in this court in connection with his pending coram nobis proceedings. In his motion, Martin contends that he is entitled to copies of public records and is in need of the copies to prepare a brief in the event that he will be required to petition this court for a rehearing if his petition is denied. Martin is mistaken.
The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, codified at Arkansas Code Annotated sections 25-19-101 to -111 (Supp. 2017), does not require a court to provide photocopies at public expense. Johnson v. State ,
Petition denied; motion for leave to file a response and motion for appointment of counsel moot; motion for copies at public expense denied.
Hart, J., dissents.
Josephine Linker Hart, Justice, dissenting.
The majority's denial of Mr. Martin's request for copies of certain documents is not grounded in either fact or in law. The majority misstates Mr. Martin's request and seeks to justify its decision pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, which is completely inapplicable to the case before us.
*666In his motion filed on January 30, 2019, Mr. Martin requested "access to copies of the records, exhibits, respondent records; and admissible public records and reports, docket entries of records, [and this] court's own docket sheets." The list of documents he requested does not match the list of documents that the majority is denying him. The majority recites that it is denying Mr. Martin copies of "his petition, exhibits attached to the petition, his motion for leave to respond, and 'any and all responses from the respondent should the court denie [sic] the petition.' " The discrepancy between these two lists is obvious and unreconcilable.
The legal basis for the majority's decision is also erroneous. First and foremost, Mr. Martin did not file a request for documents pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. As noted, Mr. Martin requested "access to copies of the records." Because they are records in his criminal case, Mr. Martin is unquestionably entitled to these records. Ark. R. App. P.-Crim. 19. Accordingly, the majority's reliance on the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act is puzzling. Rule 19 directly addresses Mr. Martin's request; the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act does not.
I respectfully dissent.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Lawrence Edward MARTIN v. STATE of Arkansas
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published