Anthony v. State, 2014 Ark. 195

Background

Appellant Ray Lee Anthony was convicted in 2010 of aggravated robbery, first-degree battery, forgery, and fraudulent use of a credit card, receiving a total of 1800 months’ imprisonment.
Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions; Anthony v. State, 2011 Ark. App. 660.
Anthony filed a timely, verified pro se Rule 37.1 postconviction petition; the trial court denied relief without a hearing and denied public-expense record copies.
On appeal, Anthony challenged the trial court’s handling of his ineffective-assistance claims and the sufficiency of its written findings.
The Court reaffirmed the standard: postconviction relief is denied if the record shows no relief or if the claims are wholly without merit; if issues were addressed below, the Strickland two-prong test applies.
The Court ultimately affirmed the trial court’s denial of postconviction relief on the claims raised on appeal.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court improvidently failed to address all Rule 37.1 claims	Anthony asserts the order lacked findings on some claims.	State contends the court’s written findings sufficed where some claims were wholly meritless.	No reversible error; record shows meritless/undetermined claims were properly resolved.
Whether Strickland standard was correctly applied to denied ineffective-assistance claims	Anthony contends counsel was ineffective for various failures.	State argues no clear error under Strickland; standard requires both deficient performance and prejudice.	Trial court’s ruling was not clearly erroneous under Strickland.
Whether failure to independently investigate the suppression motion prejudiced Anthony	Anthony argues counsel failed to investigate chain-of-custody issues and other suppression-related matters.	State contends the suppression issue was adequately addressed, and no prejudice showed.	Not warranted; record shows counsel cross-examined witnesses and no reasonable probability of different outcome.
Whether trial counsel’s failure to sever or object to robbery evidence prejudiced	Anthony asserts inadequate investigation into alternate suspects and severance issues, plus objection to evidence.	State argues severance would have been unwarranted as charges stemmed from a single scheme; objections lacking merit.	Mercifully, severance and evidentiary objections not warranted; no prejudice shown.
Whether use of Illinois aggravated-robbery conviction as a habitual-offender enhancement was properly handled	Anthony claims Illinois conviction should not have been used or challenged as not a comparable serious felony.	State contends Illinois conviction qualifies as a comparable felony involving violence; trial court so ruled.	Counsel not ineffective for not challenging the use; conviction properly treated as a comparable felony.

Key Cases Cited

Lemaster v. State, 2013 Ark. 449 (Ark. 2013) (Rule 37.3(a) written findings required when no hearing)
Eason v. State, 2011 Ark. 352 (Ark. 2011) (per curiam postconviction procedure guidance)
Hayes v. State, 2011 Ark. 327 (Ark. 2011) (per curiam effectiveness standard discussion)
Montgomery v. State, 2011 Ark. 462 (Ark. 2011) (need for written findings in Rule 37 petitions)
Pankau v. State, 2013 Ark. 162 (Ark. 2013) (appellate review of postconviction for effectiveness)
Banks v. State, 2013 Ark. 147 (Ark. 2013) (clear-error standard for postconviction relief)
Taylor v. State, 2013 Ark. 146 (Ark. 2013) (Strickland two-prong test and totality of evidence)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance)
Williams v. State, 369 Ark. 104 (Ark. 2007) (presumption of reasonable professional assistance)
Abernathy v. State, 2012 Ark. 59 (Ark. 2012) (burden to show prejudice in ineffective-assistance claims)
Dixon v. State, 2014 Ark. 97 (Ark. 2014) (prejudice required in failure-to-investigate claims)
Bryant v. State, 2013 Ark. 305 (Ark. 2013) (per curiam on ineffective assistance and prejudice)
Dodge v. State, 2014 Ark. 116 (Ark. 2014) (counsel not ineffective for meritless objections)
Jordan v. State, 2013 Ark. 468 (Ark. 2013) (merits-based absence of merit in objections)
Boatright v. State, 2014 Ark. 66 (Ark. 2014) (trial strategy and witness calling is professional judgment)
Green v. State, 2013 Ark. 455 (Ark. 2013) (arguments raised for first time on appeal not considered)
Ellis v. State, 2014 Ark. 24 (Ark. 2014) (no absolute right to appointment of counsel in postconviction)