Fudge v. HobbsFudge v. Hobbs
PER CURIAM
In 1999, appellant James Charles Fudge was found guilty by a jury in the Pulaski County Circuit Court of capital murder and sentenced to death. We affirmed. Fudge v. State, 341 Ark. 759, 20 S.W.3d 315 (2000). In subsequent proceedings under
In 2011, appellant, who was incarcerated at a unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction in Lincoln County, filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Lincoln
A writ of habeas corpus is only proper when a judgment of conviction is invalid on its face or when a circuit court lacked jurisdiction over the cause. Abernathy v. Norris, 2011 Ark. 335 (per curiam); Davis v. Reed, 316 Ark. 575, 873 S.W.2d 524 (1994). The burden is on the petitioner in a habeas corpus petition to establish that the trial court lacked jurisdiction or that the commitment order was invalid on its face; otherwise, there is no basis for a finding that a writ of habeas corpus should issue. Young v. Norris, 365 Ark. 219, 226 S.W.3d 797 (2006) (per curiam). The petitioner must plead either the facial invalidity or the lack of jurisdiction and make a “showing by affidavit or other evidence [of] probable cause to believe” that he is illegally detained. Id. at 221, 226 S.W.3d at 798–99; see also Randolph v. State, 2011 Ark. 510 (per curiam).
Appellant raised one issue that called into question the trial court’s jurisdiction. He contended that the murder for which he was convicted in Pulaski County occurred in Lonoke
As we noted when appellant raised the same issue in this court in a petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis, the victim was last seen alive in Pulaski County, and her body was found buried in a shallow grave in Pulaski County. Appellant offers no substantiation for his claim that the victim was killed in Lonoke County, but, in any event, our cases have consistently recognized that, when a crime begins in one county and proceeds to culmination in another county, both counties have jurisdiction to prosecute the crime. Ridling v. State, 360 Ark. 424, 203 S.W.3d 63 (2005); Cloird v. State, 352 Ark. 190, 99 S.W.3d 419 (2003); Cozzaglio v. State, 289 Ark. 33, 709 S.W.2d 70 (1986); see also Wilson v. State, 298 Ark. 608, 770 S.W.2d 123 (1989). In Patterson v. State, 306 Ark. 385, 815 S.W.2d 377 (1991), this court held that although the murder occurred in Greene County, Craighead County had jurisdiction to try the appellant because some of the acts requisite to the murder occurred in Craighead County. See also Pilcher v. State, 303 Ark. 335, 796 S.W.2d 845 (1990) (holding that both Saline County and Grant County had jurisdiction to try the appellant for murder, where the actual killing occurred in one county, but the acts requisite to the consummation of the murder and the subsequent disposal of the body occurred in the other county). As the victim’s body was buried in Pulaski County, Pulaski County had jurisdiction to try appellant for murder in the death of the victim. See Pilcher, 303 Ark. 335, 796 S.W.2d 845.
The other claims raised by appellant as grounds for a writ of habeas corpus were not cognizable in a habeas proceeding. He contended that the State at his trial relied on perjured
Jurisdiction is the power of the court to hear and determine the subject matter in controversy. Anderson v. State, 2011 Ark. 35 (per curiam); Baker v. Norris, 369 Ark. 405, 255 S.W.3d 466 (2007). A circuit court has subject-matter jurisdiction to hear and determine cases involving violations of criminal statutes. Id. Appellant did not meet his burden of demonstrating a basis for a writ of habeas corpus to issue. Rodgers v. Hobbs, 2011 Ark. 443 (per curiam); Henderson v. White, 2011 Ark. 361 (per curiam). As appellant failed to establish that the writ should issue, he could not prevail on appeal of the order denying his petition. Douthitt v. Hobbs, 2011 Ark. 416 (per curiam); Dickinson v. Norris, 2011 Ark. 413 (per curiam).
Appeal dismissed; motions moot.