Ratchford v. State

2015 Ark. 309, 468 S.W.3d 274, 2015 Ark. LEXIS 526
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJuly 23, 2015
DocketCR-03-905
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2015 Ark. 309 (Ratchford v. State) 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
Ratchford v. State, 2015 Ark. 309, 468 S.W.3d 274, 2015 Ark. LEXIS 526 (Ark. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM

hln 2002, petitioner Jeffrey Scott Ratch-ford was found guilty by a jury of the rape of a child less than fourteen years of age. The victim was S.R., his thirteen-year-old daughter. He was also found guilty of two counts of sexual assault in the first degree in which the victims were S.R. and Ratch-ford’s twelve-year-old daughter, T.R. A life sentence was imposed on the rape charge and 120 months’ imprisonment on each of the sexual-assault charges, with all sentences to be served concurrently. We affirmed the judgment as modified. 1 Ratchford v. State, 357 Ark. 27, 159 S.W.3d 304 (2004).

In 2014, Ratchford filed in this court a pro se petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the | gcircuit court to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis. 2 A petition for leave to proceed in the circuit court is necessary because the circuit court can entertain a petition for writ of error coram nobis after a judgment has been affirmed on appeal only after we grant permission. Newman v. State, 2009 Ark. 539, 354 S.W.3d 61.

A writ of error coram nobis is an extraordinarily rare remedy more known for its denial than its approval. Id. Co-ram-nobis proceedings are attended by a strong presumption that the judgment of conviction is valid. Id. The function of the writ is to secure relief from a judgment rendered while there existed some fact that would have prevented its rendition if it had been known to the circuit court and which, through no negligence or fault of the defendant, was not brought forward before rendition of the judgment. Id. The petitioner has the burden of demonstrating a fundamental error of fact extrinsic to the record. Roberts v. State, 2013 Ark. 56, 425 S.W.3d 771.

The writ is allowed only under compelling circumstances to achieve justice and to address errors of the most fundamental nature. Id. We have held that a writ of error coram nobis is available to address certain errors that are found in one of four categories: (1) insanity at the time of trial, (2) a coerced guilty plea, (3) material evidence withheld by the prosecutor, or (4) a third-party confession to the crime during the time between conviction and appeal. Coulter v. State, 365 Ark. 262, 227 S.W.3d 904 (2006).

As grounds for the writ in the 2014 petition, Ratchford asserted that material evidence was withheld from him in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). While couched as |sa claim of a Brady violation, which does fall within one of the four categories warranting eoram-nobis relief, this court found that Ratchford’s claim was actually one of ineffective assistance of counsel, a claim that is not cognizable in a coram-nobis proceeding. Ratchford v. State, 2014 Ark. 452, 2014 WL 5494163 (per curiam). We further declined to accept Ratchford’s alternative requests for relief in the 2014 petition, i.e. that this court issue a writ of certiorari to reopen his direct appeal, recall the mandate in his direct appeal, or order the State to re-offer a plea bargain so that he could accept it. Id.

On May 1, 2015, Ratchford filed a second pro se petition to reinvest jurisdiction to proceed with a coram-nobis petition, which is now before us. In the second petition, he contends that, in December 2013, he obtained new evidence of a Brady violation that shows that the verdict in his case was obtained by perjured testimony. 3 To understand the Brady claim, it is necessary to summarize the evidence adduced at trial on the charge of the rape of S.R.

S.R. testified that Ratchford had touched her “lower private” with his tongue and that “more than ten times,” he put his “lower private,” which was her term for penis, “into my private.” There was no medical evidence presented concerning whether the penetration was sufficient to have ruptured the hymen.

In accordance with Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-14-103(a)(4) (Repl. 1997) (superseded by Ark.Code Ann. § 5-14-103(a)(l)(C)(i) (Supp. 2001)), the jury was instructed that 14the offense of rape could be proven by evidence that the defendant engaged in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual activity with the victim. “Sexual intercourse” was defined in the jury instructions as penetration, however slight, of the labia majora by a penis. “Deviate sexual activity” was defined as any act of sexual gratification involving the penetration, however slight, of the of the anus or mouth of one person by the penis of any other person or the penetration, however slight, of the labia majora of one person by any body member of another person.

The newly discovered evidence that Ratchford states was obtained in 2013 consists of the State’s knowledge of a physical examination of S.R., conducted in Michigan in June 2001, which was eighteen months before his 2002 trial, and the report of that examination. He alleges that the report constituted proof that S.R. could not have been raped repeatedly because there were no physical signs of rape observed by the examiner even though Ratchford is a large man who weighed nearly four hundred pounds at the time in question. Ratchford argues that this report was not contained in the State’s file that was made available to the defense, that the report was exculpatory, and that it could have been used to cast doubt on the credibility of S.R. and other witnesses.

As substantiation for the claim that there was such a report and that it was available to the State, Ratchford has appended to his petition a copy of a document captioned, “Family Independence Agency of Michigan Protective Services Investigation Summary,” dated June 2001, which indicates that a medical examination was conducted on S.R. by a Certified Nurse Practitioner. The report states that the examiner found the hymen to be present and no sign of physical injury to the genitals or anus. The report also states that, with respect to suspected | ¿sexual molestation, the examiner found that S.R.’s “allegations and presentation are very convincing to this examiner.”

Ratchford also appended to his petition a copy of the affidavit of attorney Mark Hampton who represented him in postcon-viction proceedings, verified July 21, 2014, in which Hampton avers that in 2004 he requested from the prosecutor’s office a copy of the State’s entire file on his case as well as product information. Hampton further states in the affidavit his belief that he did not receive the entire file at that time and that, in 2006, Ratchford had written him a letter with a copy of the 2001 medical report from Michigan enclosed. Hampton states in the affidavit that he had not seen that medical report in the prosecutor’s file. Ratchford further alleges that attorney Craig Lambert obtained access to the prosecutor’s file in December 2013 and that the files Hampton received did not match those discovered in 2013. Ratchford asserts that this proves that the State knew of the medical report before trial and did not disclose it.

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Bluebook (online)
2015 Ark. 309, 468 S.W.3d 274, 2015 Ark. LEXIS 526, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ratchford-v-state-ark-2015.