Foreman v. State, 571 S.W.3d 484

Everett Foreman was convicted of first-degree murder in 1994, reversed on appeal, retried, reconvicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Foreman filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the county of his incarceration challenging his conviction.
He alleged that a key witness recanted in 2017, claiming her trial testimony that implicated him was false.
The Lee County Circuit Court denied the habeas petition as untimely and without merit.
The Arkansas Supreme Court reviewed whether the petition was time-barred and whether a recantation alleging perjury rendered the judgment invalid on its face.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Timeliness of habeas petition	Foreman filed despite long lapse; court should hear merits	No statutory or constitutional time limit; but lower court found untimely	Court: No time limit on habeas petitions; lower court reached right result on other grounds so affirmation is appropriate
Recantation/perjured testimony	Recantation of key witness in 2017 renders conviction invalid; no reasonable juror would convict without that testimony	Claim attacks sufficiency of evidence; conviction valid on its face and trial court had jurisdiction	Court: Recantation alleging perjury challenges sufficiency of evidence and is not cognizable in habeas; petition without merit

Foreman v. State, 321 Ark. 167 (reversal and remand for new trial) (governing earlier reversal)
Foreman v. State, 328 Ark. 583 (affirming conviction after retrial) (post-retrial appellate decision)
Baker v. Norris, 369 Ark. 405 (court jurisdiction principles in criminal matters)
Renshaw v. Norris, 337 Ark. 494 (habeas corpus not subject to statutory time limit)
Miller v. State, 301 Ark. 59 (judgment obtained by alleged false testimony must show facial invalidity to warrant habeas)
Johnson v. State, 298 Ark. 479 (court has authority to render judgment when personal and subject-matter jurisdiction present)