Rodney Rayburn v. State of Arkansas, 622 S.W.3d 155

On July 9, 2015, Rodney Rayburn raped his 11‑year‑old daughter at a Cleburne County campsite; the child later disclosed additional abuse in other counties.
Arkansas State Police investigated; prosecutors in multiple counties were notified but Cleburne County was not informed initially.
Rayburn was arrested and convicted in Arkansas County for related offenses and sentenced to a cumulative 480 months; that conviction was affirmed on direct appeal.
Cleburne County charged Rayburn by felony information on April 18, 2017 for the campsite rape; he was arrested January 12, 2018, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life as a habitual offender; direct appeal was affirmed.
Rayburn filed a timely pro se Rule 37.1 petition alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel, defective/unauthorized charging information, fraudulent inducement into the postconviction process, and a right to appointed counsel for Rule 37 proceedings.
The circuit court denied relief without an evidentiary hearing, finding counsel effective, the information valid, and that the record conclusively showed no entitlement to relief; Rayburn appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Trial counsel ineffective	Rayburn: counsel failed to investigate, inform him of charges, present mitigating evidence, and move to quash/dismiss the information	State: claims are conclusory, many issues were raised on direct appeal, and motions counsel would have filed were meritless	Court: denied — Rayburn failed to show deficient performance or prejudice under Strickland
Right to counsel in Rule 37 proceedings	Rayburn: Rule 37 is first-tier review for IAC claims and Douglas requires appointed counsel	State: no constitutional right to appointed counsel in state collateral proceedings; issue not preserved below	Court: denied — no right to appointed counsel under these facts; claim not preserved
Validity of charging information and prosecutor authority	Rayburn: information was defective and signed by a deputy rather than elected prosecutor; grand‑jury indictment required	State: deputies are statutorily authorized to sign informations; indictment by information is constitutional	Court: denied — deputy signature and information procedure were proper; no grand‑jury right was violated
Adequacy of Rule 37 order and entitlement to a hearing	Rayburn: five‑page order failed to cite record or address claims specifically; he was entitled to an evidentiary hearing	State: court made written findings and the petition/record conclusively show no relief warranted	Court: denied — order satisfied Rule 37.3(a) and no hearing was required

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes two‑prong ineffective‑assistance standard)
Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353 (counsel required on first‑tier appeal under limited circumstances)
Williams v. State, 586 S.W.3d 148 (standard for reviewing Rule 37 denials and presumption of counsel effectiveness)
Marshall v. State, 594 S.W.3d 78 (Rule 37.3(a) requirement for written findings when denying without hearing)
McClinton v. State, 542 S.W.3d 859 (no constitutional right to grand‑jury indictment; information procedure constitutional)
Noble v. Sigler, 351 F.2d 673 (no federal constitutional right to counsel for state collateral petitions)