Stiggers v. State, 2014 Ark. 184

Stiggers was convicted by a Pulaski County jury on June 16, 2005, of first-degree murder and first-degree battery, with sentences of 40 years and 20 years, served consecutively.
Newsome survived a gunshot; Muldrew died from his injuries after a January 10, 2003 shooting in Little Rock's Hollingsworth Courts neighborhood, with Newsome identifying Stiggers at trial.
Prior direct appeal (Stiggers v. State, CACR 05-1399) upheld the convictions and sentences.
Stiggers filed a postconviction Rule 37.1 petition in 2012 alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to interview or call four witnesses who could allegedly support a “Jason” shooter theory.
The circuit court denied the petition; the Arkansas Supreme Court reviews for ineffective assistance under Strickland v. Washington, upholding a highly deferential standard and requiring both deficient performance and prejudice.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance for failure to interview/call witnesses	Stiggers argues Pride, Donley, Johnson, Mitchell would have helped prove another shooter.	State contends witnesses would be inadmissible hearsay (Zinger) and testimony lacked prejudice.	No reversible error; failure to interview/call did not show deficient performance or prejudice.

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (establishes two-prong standard: deficient performance and prejudice)
Burton v. State, 367 Ark. 109, 238 S.W.3d 111 (2006) (Strickland standard applied in Arkansas postconviction)
Stiggers v. State, 2013 Ark. 492 (2013) (citation used for standard of review in postconviction)
Prater v. State, 2012 Ark. 164 (2012) (clear error standard for postconviction rulings)
Walton v. State, 2013 Ark. 254 (2013) (prejudice proof required for Rule 37 claims)
Banks v. State, 2013 Ark. 147 (2013) (witness non-testimonial decisions generally strategic)
Moten v. State, 2013 Ark. 503 (2013) (requires witness testimony to be admissible; prejudice showing needed)
Stevenson v. State, 2013 Ark. 302 (2013) (per curiam on failure to call witnesses under Rule 37)
Hogan v. State, 2013 Ark. 223 (2013) (hearsay and admissibility considerations in effectiveness claims)
Huls v. State, 301 Ark. 572, 785 S.W.2d 467 (1990) (professional judgment in witness decisions; strategic conduct reviewed)
Dumond v. State, 294 Ark. 379, 743 S.W.2d 779 (1988) (witness testimony and admissibility considerations)
Johnson v. State, 325 Ark. 44, 924 S.W.2d 233 (1996) (testimony benefits do not prove ineffectiveness by itself)
Woody v. State, 2009 Ark. 413 (2009) (actual prejudice required to show ineffective assistance)
Zinger v. State, 313 Ark. 70, 852 S.W.2d 320 (1993) (standard for admissibility of third-party culpability evidence)