Fields v. Hobbs, 2013 Ark. 416

Michael Fields pled guilty in 2009 to one count of rape in Perry County and, later that year, pled guilty to one count of rape in Conway County; each plea produced a ten-year sentence with the Conway County sentence ordered concurrent.
The Perry County judgment lists an offense date of November 4, 2006, and contains a struck-through handwritten notation “MERGED” over count two; neither Perry nor Conway judgments identify the victim or specify which information count was the basis for the plea.
Fields filed a habeas petition in Hot Spring County (where he was incarcerated) asserting (1) Perry County lacked territorial jurisdiction because the alleged act involving victim S.J. occurred in Conway County, and (2) the Conway conviction violated double jeopardy because it had been “merged” into the Perry judgment.
Fields submitted his affidavit and police investigatory file material indicating one incident occurred in a deer stand located in Conway County, and that the victim reported multiple incidents; he did not produce plea-hearing transcripts from either county.
The Hot Spring County Circuit Court denied the petition, finding no facial defect in the judgments, that the State’s filing location creates a presumption of territorial jurisdiction, and that Fields failed to show probable cause that Perry County lacked jurisdiction or that the Conway judgment was facially invalid.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Perry County lacked territorial jurisdiction for the rape conviction	Fields: Plea in Perry was to S.J.’s rape which occurred in a deer stand in Conway County, so Perry lacked jurisdiction	State: Filing in Perry creates presumption offense occurred there; petitioner must show lack of jurisdiction and cannot rely on plea-file materials without plea transcripts	Court held Fields failed to show probable cause that Perry lacked jurisdiction; habeas inappropriate because inquiry into factual basis of plea goes beyond face of judgment
Whether Conway County judgment is facially invalid due to double jeopardy/"merged" notation	Fields: Perry judgment’s “MERGED” notation shows the Conway count was already merged, so Conway prosecution and sentence violated double jeopardy	State: Nothing on face of Conway judgment shows prior merger; "MERGED" in Perry is unexplained and does not invalidate Conway judgment	Court held Conway judgment is not facially invalid; double-jeopardy claim not cognizable on habeas absent facial defect

Davis v. Reed, 316 Ark. 575, 873 S.W.2d 524 (Ark. 1994) (habeas relief limited to facial invalidity or lack of jurisdiction)
Friend v. Norris, 364 Ark. 315, 219 S.W.3d 123 (Ark. 2005) (factual-basis challenges to pleas are beyond habeas review of judgments)
Frana v. State, 323 Ark. 1, 912 S.W.2d 930 (Ark. 1996) (will not speculate on meaning of "merged" notation on judgment-and-commitment)
United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563 (U.S. 1989) (guilty plea is an admission of guilt to charged crime)
Cloird v. State, 349 Ark. 33, 76 S.W.3d 813 (Ark. 2002) (allegation that an offense occurred outside court’s territorial jurisdiction is cognizable in habeas)