Breeden v. State, 2014 Ark. 159

Breeden was convicted by jury in 2011 of rape of his minor daughter and sentenced to life imprisonment.
This Court previously affirmed the conviction in Breeden v. State, 2013 Ark. 145.
Breeden filed a pro se Rule 37.1 postconviction petition; the circuit court denied relief without a hearing.
He appealed and moved for a certified record of trial transcript and docket entries; the court affirmed and the motion became moot.
The opinion analyzes Strickland-based ineffective-assistance standards and applies them to Breeden’s claims.
The Court affirms the denial of postconviction relief, finding no reversible error or prejudice from alleged counsel deficiencies.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether removal from the courtroom violated due process/Confrontation	Breeden claims removal during wife's testimony violated rights.	State argues no evidence supports removal occurred.	No factual support; argument fails.
Whether failure to call certain witnesses was ineffective assistance	Breeden seeks exculpatory testimony from his father and children.	Counselation decision deemed strategic; no demonstrated prejudice.	No prejudice shown; failure to call witnesses not substantial.
Whether failure to move to suppress confession on Miranda grounds was ineffective	Counsel should have moved to suppress; Miranda warnings allegedly violated.	No merit to suppression; custodial interrogation not satisfied here.	Merits not shown; no prejudice.
Whether speedy-trial delay violated Rule 28.1 and prejudiced outcome	Delay beyond twelve months violated speedy-trial rules; counsel failed to raise issue.	Delay within exclusion periods; could not show prejudice.	Delay properly excluded; no Strickland prejudice.
Whether counsel failure to seek release on own recognizance was prejudicial	Release after nine months could have yielded different evidence.	No described evidence showing outcome would differ; remedy not shown.	No demonstrated prejudice; relief denied.

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. Supreme Court 1984) (establishes two-prong standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Moten v. State, 2013 Ark. 503 (Arkansas Supreme Court 2013) (prejudice required; performance not shown to affect outcome)
Greer v. State, 2012 Ark. 158 (Arkansas Supreme Court 2012) (requires showing prejudice for ineffective-assistance claims regarding witnesses)
Hogan v. State, 2013 Ark. 223 (Arkansas Supreme Court 2013) (failure to object must show potential meritorious argument for prejudice)
Abernathy v. State, 2012 Ark. 59 (Arkansas Supreme Court 2012) (concrete showing of prejudice required; conclusory claims insufficient)
Meek v. State, 2013 Ark. 324 (Arkansas Supreme Court 2013) (trial-error claim via Rule 37.1 not cognizable; must be raised at trial)