A man convicted of murder 23 years ago should be able to argue why he should get a new trial in Pulaski County Circuit Court, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday. He also should be granted pauper status and appointed an attorney.
Alvin Ray Williams was allowed to petition Pulaski County Circuit Court for "writ of error curam nobis" after the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in his favor in January 2016. Judge Tim Fox denied the petition in March 2016 without explanation and without a hearing on the matter.
Williams, 45, appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, asking to reverse Fox's decision and send the case back to Circuit Court for the presentation of more evidence and for Fox to issue an opinion on the petition.
A petition for writ of error curam nobis asks a judge to allow a court to correct the original judgment -- in this case, Williams' 1994 murder conviction -- on the basis of an error during the original trial that was later discovered.
Williams had filed the petition after learning in 2010 that a witness to the fatal shooting of Ron Henry had been interviewed by police but that the interview was never included in the prosecutor's file. A prosecutor's file is supposed to be shared with defense counsel.
In its order Thursday, the high court reversed Fox' denial of Williams' petition. Additionally, Fox must now hold an evidentiary hearing and issue an opinion on Williams' petition. If Fox rules in favor of Williams, he would be granted a new trial.
Writing the majority opinion, Justice Robin Wynne said Fox was "required to do more than deny Williams's petition without allowing discovery, holding an evidentiary hearing, or making any findings of fact."
The Supreme Court decided Williams' petition to have merit in 2016, Wynne notes, and Fox's subsequent denial after reviewing the same record says that the petition doesn't have merit.
Further, Wynne wrote, Williams should be granted an attorney, even though right to counsel isn't absolute in post-conviction cases, because Williams had demonstrated that he is entitled to relief and can't proceed effectively without counsel.
Justice Rhonda Wood wrote a dissenting opinion, joined by Chief Justice Dan Kemp.
Wood said Fox and the Supreme Court could have, without holding a hearing on the matter, found a lack of due diligence of Williams' part in making his petition, because Williams had known of the witness's existence and presence during the trial in 1994. Further, Wood said, Williams waited more than five years after learning of the witness's police statement to file a petition.
Justice Josephine Linker Hart wrote an opinion concurring with Wynne's, asserting that due diligence is never an issue for the Supreme Court when it has "seen a case in which there has been an apparent, manifest denial of justice."
Williams is serving a life sentence at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit after being convicted of first-degree murder in the killing Henry, a member of the Bloods gang, in March 1994. He was twice recommended for clemency by the state Parole Board after starting an anti-gang violence campaign in prison.
Williams, whom police said has ties to the Crips gang, said he killed Henry in self-defense. His attorney, John Charles Williams -- no relation to Alvin Williams -- argued that the witness, known at the time to Alvin Williams only as "Long Beach," could help his case.
Williams and "Long Beach" -- an alias for Donald Smith -- had come across Henry while walking past the home of Henry's girlfriend's parents, according to court records. Henry had been shouting at his girlfriend's parents, citing his gang affiliation, and then fought with the parents.
Police said Williams and Smith intervened and that Williams and Henry scuffled over a handgun. Witnesses testified that Williams fired several shots at Henry, striking him once in the chest. The parents of Henry's girlfriend testified that Williams took the weapon to the fight.
But in June 1994, police found Smith. He told investigators he didn't think Williams had a gun and that he first saw the gun in Henry's hand when the two started fighting over it. Smith told police that Williams told him to "get the gun" from Henry and that it wasn't fired until after the fight over the weapon.
Williams' attorney claimed that interview was never in the prosecutor's file. Williams was convicted in November 1994.
Metro on 02/10/2017