Sims v. State, 555 S.W.3d 868

In 2001, Roger D. Sims pleaded guilty in Craighead County to rape and incest and received concurrent ADC sentences of 420 months (rape) and 120 months (incest).
In 2017 Sims, incarcerated in Texas, filed a habeas petition in Jefferson County (location of ADC headquarters), challenging his confinement.
Sims asserted two grounds: (1) double jeopardy because he was convicted of both rape and incest; and (2) his sentence was illegal because the judgment allegedly ordered completion of the ADC RSVP sexual-offender program in prison.
The habeas statute requires a petitioner (not asserting actual innocence under Act 1780) to allege facial invalidity of the judgment or lack of jurisdiction and to show probable cause by affidavit or other evidence.
The circuit court denied relief, finding (a) the judgment did not facially show a double-jeopardy violation, and (b) the judgment-and-commitment order did not require completion of RSVP; Sims did not show probable cause or that he had been required to complete RSVP.
The court declined to order an evidentiary hearing because probable cause for issuance of the writ was not shown.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Double jeopardy — whether rape and incest are the same offense	Sims: convictions for rape and incest amount to double jeopardy and render sentence illegal	State: judgment does not facially show an illegal sentence; rape and incest have different elements	Held: No double jeopardy; crimes require proof of different elements, claim not cognizable on habeas without facial invalidity
Illegal sentence — whether judgment required completion of RSVP in prison	Sims: handwritten notation shows he was ordered to complete RSVP, making sentence illegal	State: official judgment requires only sex-offender registration; no certified order shows RSVP requirement; Sims not shown to have been required to complete RSVP	Held: No illegal sentence on face of judgment; court did not err in denying relief
Right to a hearing on habeas petition	Sims: requests an evidentiary hearing	State: hearing not required absent probable cause or cognizable claim	Held: No hearing ordered because probable cause for writ issuance not shown
Proper respondent / venue	Sims named State rather than ADC director; filed in Jefferson County	State: action should be directed to custodian in whose custody prisoner is detained	Held: Court treated petition as though properly directed to ADC director and proceeded on merits despite naming error

Hundley v. Hobbs, 456 S.W.3d 755 (Ark. 2015) (venue guidance for habeas petitions filed by ADC prisoners)
Philyaw v. Kelley, 477 S.W.3d 503 (Ark. 2015) (habeas proper when judgment facially invalid or court lacked jurisdiction)
Baker v. Norris, 255 S.W.3d 466 (Ark. 2007) (jurisdiction defined as power to hear subject matter)
Hobbs v. Gordon, 434 S.W.3d 364 (Ark. 2014) (standard of review for habeas-corpus decisions)
Edwards v. Kelley, 526 S.W.3d 825 (Ark. 2017) (double-jeopardy claims not cognizable on habeas absent facial invalidity)
Mackey v. Lockhart, 819 S.W.2d 702 (Ark. 1991) (no absolute right to hearing on habeas absent probable cause)
Johnson v. State, 538 S.W.3d 819 (Ark. 2018) (reinforcing requirement of probable cause for habeas hearing)