Lee v. State, 2016 Ark. 464

Terry Antonio Lee was convicted of terrorism, attempted first-degree battery, and four counts of aggravated assault and sentenced to an aggregate 1,020 months; those convictions were affirmed on direct appeal.
Lee filed a timely pro se Rule 37.1 postconviction petition; after two hearings the trial court denied relief.
This Court remanded for supplementation: to settle the record and for additional findings addressing Lee’s claim that trial counsel failed to make sufficient directed-verdict motions (Lee v. State, 2016 Ark. 293, 498 S.W.3d 283).
The trial court filed a supplemental Rule 37 order and the supplemental record was lodged in this Court; Lee’s supplemental brief was then due in this Court.
Lee filed a pro se motion for reversal and dismissal claiming the trial court failed to comply with the remand and alleging he had not received the supplemental order.
The Supreme Court concluded the trial court had complied with the remand but that the circuit clerk had not promptly mailed a copy of the supplemental Rule 37 order to Lee as required by Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.3(d), impairing Lee’s ability to file a compliant supplemental brief.

Issue	Lee's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court failed to comply with this Court’s remand	Trial court disobeyed remand by not filing required supplemental findings	Trial court did comply and filed supplemental findings of fact	Court held the trial court complied with the remand
Whether Lee was denied required notice of the supplemental Rule 37 order	Lee alleged he never received a copy and thus could not file a supplemental brief	State did not dispute that Lee lacked a copy or the mailing requirement	Court held Lee had not been mailed the supplemental order and remanded for compliance with Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.3(d)
Procedural consequence: whether reversal/dismissal was warranted	Lee sought reversal and dismissal based on alleged noncompliance	State opposed reversal/dismissal because remand compliance occurred	Court denied motion for reversal/dismissal; remanded to ensure mailing and set new briefing deadline

Lee v. State, 498 S.W.3d 283 (Ark. 2016) (remand to settle the record and make additional findings on ineffective-assistance claim)