Smith v. State, 459 S.W.3d 806

Supreme Court of Arkansas reviews denial of Rule 37.1 postconviction petition by Roy Smith seeking relief from 2009 convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, and unauthorized use of property to facilitate a crime.
Jury convicted Smith; aggregate sentence 160 years plus fines after aggravating factors and consecutive terms.
Rule 37.1 hearing held; circuit court denied relief, finding no ineffective assistance of counsel.
Smith timely pursued belated appeals; this court remanded for an evidentiary hearing on timeliness and related issues, ultimately obtaining belated-appeal status.
On the merits, the court reviews Strickland-based ineffective-assistance claims for two-prong prejudice and reasonableness under a deferential standard.
Court affirms the circuit court’s denial of relief and upholds trial counsel’s decisions as trial strategy or non-prejudicial

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance for not striking juror Lane	Smith contends Lane was an acquaintance of his sister and biased against him	Counsel believed jury seating was trial strategy and not clearly prejudicial	No clear error; trial strategy decision upheld
Ineffective assistance for failing to obtain a continuance via 16-63-402	Counsel failed to file required affidavit and locate Frye, a potential witness	Counsel diligently attempted to locate Frye; affidavit issue not proven prejudicial	No clear error; no showing Frye’s testimony would have changed outcome
Ineffective assistance for not challenging search warrant timing/no-knock	Assertion that warrant executed before 6:00 a.m. without knock is uncontroverted by record	Evidence at suppression hearing contradicted Smith; credibility resolved against Smith	No clear error; motion to suppress would not have been meritorious

Moten v. State, 2013 Ark. 503 (Ark. 2013) (witness failure and strategy in Rule 37 proceedings; prejudice required)
Greer v. State, 2012 Ark. 158 (Ark. 2012) (prejudice standard for witness-related ineffective assistance)
Williams v. State, 2011 Ark. 489 (Ark. 2011) (credibility and trial-dynamics in Rule 37 review)
Keck v. State, 2012 Ark. 145 (Ark. 2012) (two-prong Strickland standard; totality of evidence)
Pankau v. State, 2013 Ark. 162 (Ark. 2013) (clear-error standard for postconviction relief decisions)
Smith v. State, (Smith II) 2012 Ark. 331 (Ark. 2012) (per curiam remand on belated appeal procedures)