Thernell Hundley v. State of Arkansas, 594 S.W.3d 60

Thernell Hundley committed capital murder and rape at age 17, pleaded guilty in 1980, and received a mandatory life-without-parole sentence.
Miller v. Alabama (2012) held mandatory LWOP for juveniles unconstitutional; Hundley’s life sentence was vacated on June 30, 2015, and a resentencing was ordered.
A resentencing jury trial was held December 17, 2018; the jury again sentenced Hundley to life imprisonment.
At resentencing Hundley proffered detailed jury instructions (three forms plus an explanatory instruction) modeled on AMI Crim. 2d 1008, asking the jury to list mitigating circumstances and to make specific, unanimous findings similar to those required in death-penalty cases (e.g., that he was a "rare" irreparably corrupt juvenile).
The circuit court rejected Hundley’s proffered instructions, stating that requiring the jury to complete written mitigating-circumstances findings without aggravators invites reversal, and opted to give the State’s instructions instead.
The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed, holding the trial court did not abuse its discretion because the specific, formalized findings requested by Hundley are required only in death-penalty cases and need not be imposed at Miller-based resentencings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by refusing Hundley’s proffered capital-murder/mitigation jury instructions at resentencing	Hundley: Miller requires the jury meaningfully consider youth-related mitigating evidence; thus the jury should make specific, written findings (forms modeled on death-penalty instructions)	State: The required findings format applies only when death is sought; other instructions sufficiently ensure consideration of mitigation; trial court acted within discretion	Court: Affirmed — no abuse of discretion; the formalized findings Hundley sought are limited to death cases and need not be imposed on Miller resentencing

Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012) (mandatory life without parole for juveniles unconstitutional)
Grubbs v. State, 2020 Ark. 42 (2020) (declining to extend death-penalty finding forms to Miller resentencing cases)
Barnes v. Everett, 351 Ark. 479 (2003) (party entitled to instruction only if correct law and supported by evidence)
Dodson v. Allstate Ins. Co., 345 Ark. 430 (2001) (trial court’s instruction decisions reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Stivers v. State, 354 Ark. 140 (2003) (no abuse in rejecting instructions that include elements not in statute)
Wallace v. State, 270 Ark. 17 (1980) (no abuse when other instructions adequately cover an issue)