A footnote in an Arkansas Supreme Court ruling this spring offloaded the bulk of post-conviction cases from its docket.
In an opinion released earlier this week, the Arkansas Court of Appeals responded by berating the high court about shifting the work down the chain.
The lower court's opinion came the day after Supreme Court Chief Justice Dan Kemp told a commission the "judicial branch" proposed an 11 percent raise for Supreme Court justices and a 2 percent raise for district judges, circuit judges and members of the Court of Appeals. No decision was made on the pay request.
In the opinion released Wednesday, Judge Phillip Whiteaker, a member of the Court of Appeals, noted the significance of shifting some post-conviction appeal cases from the high court to the Court of Appeals.
Post-conviction cases, also called Rule 37 cases, involve questions about whether sentences were imposed in violation of the U.S. or state constitutions, whether the convicting court had jurisdiction and if important facts were omitted in a case, among other issues.
"Prior to March 2, 2017, the Arkansas Supreme Court exerted jurisdiction over all postconviction matters, as it had previously and consistently held that such appeals are 'required by law to be heard by the Supreme Court,'" Whiteaker wrote.
He then listed 18 cases to illustrate his point.
"On March 2, 2017, however, our supreme court, without effectuating a rule change and without any explication or further explanation as to why it was no longer required by law to hear such cases, summarily transferred a majority of its Rule 37 cases to this court by means of a footnote in an unsigned per curiam opinion," he wrote.
He continued: "To assist in the exercise of this jurisdiction, the supreme court employed, and still employs for its exclusive use, an entire office to handle these types of cases."
In a footnote later in the opinion, he wrote that "the burden now falls on court of appeals' staff to review the entire record, without the benefit of assistance from the Criminal Justice Coordinator's office."
In explaining the change of role for the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court wrote the following in a March 2 footnote in an unsigned per curiam opinion:
"Effective March 2, 2017, the Arkansas Court of Appeals will assume appellate jurisdiction of all appeals arising from a petitioner's allegation that the petitioner was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial or on direct appeal from a judgment of conviction except in instances when the death penalty or life imprisonment has been imposed on the petitioner.
"The Arkansas Court of Appeals will also assume jurisdiction of petitions for postconviction relief pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1 in cases wherein the Rule required the petitioner in cases where the judgment was entered before July 1, 1989, to obtain permission from the appellate court before proceeding in the trial court with a petition under the Rule."
No other explanation was given. Attempts to get in touch with law professors to shed light on the decision were not successful.
A review of data from the state's electronic court record system showed 102 post-conviction appeal cases filed in 2016, 91 filed in 2015, 93 filed in 2014 and 119 filed in 2013.
Wednesday's Court of Appeals opinion regarded the case of Bobby Bridgeman, who pleaded guilty to breaking or entering. In that opinion, Whiteaker affirmed a Pope County Circuit Court's opinion denying Bridgeman's pro se petition for post-conviction relief. Bridgeman challenged the circumstances surrounding the entry of his guilty plea and the effectiveness of his counsel in explaining the consequences of his suspended sentence, according to the opinion.
Metro on 05/20/2017