Chunestudy v. State, 2014 Ark. 345

Appellant was convicted by jury of rape in 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Direct appeal affirmed in Chunestudy v. State, 2012 Ark. 222, 408 S.W.3d 55.
Appellant filed a pro se Rule 37.1 postconviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel.
Trial court denied the petition after a hearing.
On appeal, the standard is Strickland two-prong: deficient performance and prejudice; review is for clear error.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not renewing directed-verdict at close of evidence	Chunestudy argues failure to renew was prejudicial	State contends lack of merit; sufficient evidence supports conviction	No error; proceeding viewed evidence as sufficient to sustain conviction
Whether counsel erred by not calling a rebuttal witness to counter Vanaman's testimony	Counsel should have called expert to rebut Vanaman	Counsel adequately challenged Vanaman; no prejudice shown	Not ineffective; no showing of specific prejudicial information
Whether counsel failed to impeach the victim with inconsistent statements or to recall her as a witness	Unknown inconsistencies would have affected outcome	General allegations insufficient to show prejudice	Prejudice not demonstrated; conclusory claims fail under Strickland
Whether counsel's investigation was inadequate due to limited inquiry	Eight potential witnesses not contacted; investigation inadequate	Petitioner failed to show how witnesses would have changed outcome	No prejudice; failure to demonstrate meritorious claim under Rule 37.1
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by not appointing counsel or providing record access	Martinez/Trevino require counsel in collateral review	Martinez/Trevino do not mandate appointment of counsel in Arkansas collateral proceedings	No abuse; no meritorious claim shown; appointment not required

Conley v. State, 2014 Ark. 172 (Ark. 2014) (clear-error standard for Rule 37.1 determinations; Strickland framework referenced)
Caery v. State, 2014 Ark. 247 (Ark. 2014) (two-prong Strickland test; strong presumption of counsel's range of professional assistance)
Sartin v. State, 2012 Ark. 155 (Ark. 2012) (Strickland prejudice component requires reasonable probability of different outcome)
Taylor v. State, 2013 Ark. 146 (Ark. 2013) (totality of evidence standard for ineffective assistance claims)
Holloway v. State, 2013 Ark. 140 (Ark. 2013) (defendant must show deficient performance prejudiced trial)
Breeden v. State, 2014 Ark. 159 (Ark. 2014) (reasonable probability undermines confidence in outcome)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (standard for evaluating ineffective assistance of counsel)
Ellis v. State, 2014 Ark. 24 (Ark. 2014) (abuse of discretion for appointment of counsel requires meritorious claim)
Viveros v. State, 372 Ark. 463 (Ark. 2008) (per curiam; standards for collateral-review claims)
Martinez v. Ryan, 132 S. Ct. 1309 (2012) (no automatic right to counsel in state collateral proceedings)
Trevino v. Thaler, 133 S. Ct. 1911 (2013) (extends Martinez; institutional requirements not guaranteed)
Green v. State, 2013 Ark. 497 (Ark. 2013) (credibility of witnesses for juries to assess)
Chunestudy v. State, 2012 Ark. 222 (Ark. 2012) (prior direct-appeal sufficiency under Rule 37.1 context)