Anderson v. Kelley

2019 Ark. 6, 564 S.W.3d 516
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 17, 2019
DocketNo. CV-18-485
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 2019 Ark. 6 (Anderson v. Kelley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anderson v. Kelley, 2019 Ark. 6, 564 S.W.3d 516 (Ark. 2019).

Opinion

COURTNEY HUDSON GOODSON, Associate Justice

Appellant Michael Lee Anderson appeals the dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Anderson argues on appeal, as he did in his petition, that he is being illegally detained because he was not personally charged in an original felony information; instead, his name was added to an amendment to the felony information that originally charged only his brother Myron with the offenses of which Anderson was later convicted. We find no error and affirm the order.

I. Background

In 2007, Anderson, who was tried jointly with Myron, was found guilty of five counts of committing a terroristic act and one count of possession of a firearm by certain persons. He was sentenced to an aggregate term of 1320 months' imprisonment. The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed. Anderson v. State , 2010 Ark. App. 177, 2010 WL 653846. On January 24, 2018, Anderson filed in the Jefferson County Circuit Court, which is located in the county where he is incarcerated, the petition for writ of habeas corpus that is the subject of this appeal.

II. Grounds for Issuance of the Writ

A writ of habeas corpus is proper when a judgment of conviction is invalid on its face or when a circuit court lacks jurisdiction over the cause. Philyaw v. Kelley , 2015 Ark. 465, 477 S.W.3d 503. Jurisdiction is the power of the court to hear and determine the subject matter in controversy. Baker v. Norris , 369 Ark. 405, 255 S.W.3d 466 (2007). Under our statute, a petitioner for the writ who does not allege his actual innocence and proceed under Act 1780 of 2001 must plead either the facial invalidity of the judgment or the lack of jurisdiction by the trial court and make a showing by affidavit or other evidence of probable cause to believe that he is being illegally detained. Id. ; Ark. Code Ann. § 16-112-103(a)(1) (Repl. 2016). Unless the petitioner can show that the trial court lacked jurisdiction or that the commitment *518was invalid on its face, there is no basis for a finding that a writ of habeas corpus should issue. Fields v. Hobbs , 2013 Ark. 416, 2013 WL 5775566.

III. Standard of Review

A circuit court's decision on a petition for writ of habeas corpus will be upheld unless it is clearly erroneous. Hobbs v. Gordon , 2014 Ark. 225, 434 S.W.3d 364. A decision is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the appellate court, after reviewing the entire evidence, is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Id.

IV. Legality of Judgment of Conviction

As stated, Anderson argues that the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction in his case because he was charged in an amendment to the information originally filed in his brother Myron's case rather than by an original information filed in his individual case and assigned an individual docket number. He contends that the lack of jurisdiction rendered the judgment in his case invalid on its face, and therefore, the writ should issue to effect his release from custody. The original information charging Myron was filed in the Ashley County Circuit Court on November 30, 2006, and assigned docket number CR-2006-197-4. On December 28, 2006, an amended information was filed that added Anderson's name. The amended information bore the docket number CR-2006-197-4 A & B. (Anderson was designated defendant "B.")

Claims of a defective information that raise a valid jurisdictional issue are cognizable in a habeas proceeding. Philyaw , 2015 Ark. 465, 477 S.W.3d 503. However, allegations of a defective information that do not raise such a claim are not generally considered jurisdictional and are, accordingly, treated as trial error. Id. See Williams v. Kelley , 2017 Ark. 200, 521 S.W.3d 104 (claim that the failure to assign a different case number to severed criminal proceedings failed to provide defendant with adequate due process is the type of claim constituting trial error that must have been raised at trial and is not cognizable in habeas proceedings).

Here, Anderson did not allege that the amended felony information that charged him was defective in that it failed to apprise him of the charges against him. Because his allegation did not rest on an assertion of trial error and a lack of due process based on a flaw in the information, Anderson's argument that he was never charged with the offenses would, if established, be a ground for the writ.

Anderson's argument that he was never charged fails because he did not establish that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter the judgment of conviction merely because he was charged in an amendment to the felony information that charged Myron. A circuit court has subject-matter jurisdiction to hear and determine cases involving violations of criminal statutes. Love v. Kelley , 2018 Ark. 206, 548 S.W.3d 145. Regarding personal jurisdiction, the commission of the offenses by Anderson in Ashley County subjected him to being charged and prosecuted in that county.

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Related

Johnson v. Kelley
2019 Ark. 230 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2019)

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Bluebook (online)
2019 Ark. 6, 564 S.W.3d 516, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-kelley-ark-2019.