Tyrell A. Benson v. Dexter Payne, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction

2021 Ark. 18

• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas
• Decided: February 4, 2021
• Status: Published

Opinion

Digitally signed by Susan Cite as 2021 Ark. 18 Williams Reason: I attest to the accuracy SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS and integrity of this document No. CV-20-280 Date: 2024.03.05 10:30:37 -06'00'

Opinion Delivered: February 4, 2021 TYRELL A. BENSON APPELLANT PRO SE APPEAL FROM THE LINCOLN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 40CV-20-25]

HONORABLE JODI RAINES DEXTER PAYNE, DIRECTOR, DENNIS, JUDGE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION AFFIRMED. APPELLEE

SHAWN A. WOMACK, Associate Justice

Appellant Tyrell A. Benson appeals the denial of his pro se petition for writ of habeas

corpus filed in the county where he is incarcerated pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated

section 16-112-101 (Repl. 2016). Benson alleged in his petition that his judgments in three

separate criminal cases are invalid because the prosecutor did not sign the charging

information in each case. The circuit court denied and dismissed the petition, concluding

Benson’s claim was not cognizable in habeas proceedings. As there are no grounds stated

in either the petition filed in the circuit court or in his appellate arguments on which a writ

of habeas corpus could be issued, we affirm.

I. Background

In January 2003, a Pulaski County jury convicted Benson of three counts of

aggravated robbery in case number 60CR-02-2345. The trial court sentenced him to three

consecutive ten-year sentences. The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed. Benson v. State, CACR03-477 (Ark. App. Mar. 31, 2004). In February 2003, a Pulaski County jury

convicted Benson of two counts of a terroristic act in case number 60CR-02-1695, and he

was sentenced to two thirty-year sentences to run concurrently with one another but

consecutively to the thirty years he received on the aggravated-robbery charges. The

Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed. Benson v. State, 86 Ark. App. 154, 164 S.W.3d 495

(2004). Finally, in March 2003, Benson entered a negotiated guilty plea to rape and

aggravated robbery in case number 60CR-02-1978. Benson was sentenced to sixty years

on each count to run concurrently with each other and with his previous sentences. In

sum, Benson was sentenced to an aggregate term of sixty years’ imprisonment for the

convictions in all the above-referenced criminal cases.

In 2018, this court issued a writ of habeas corpus with respect to Benson’s judgments

in case numbers 60CR-02-1695 and 60CR-02-1978 because the sentencing orders applied

Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-93-609 (Repl. 2016) to Benson’s sentences in those

two cases, which deprived him of his eligibility for parole due to the commission of prior

violent felonies. Benson v. Kelley, 2018 Ark. 333, 561 S.W.3d 327. This court found that

the sentencing orders, which reflected the application of section 16-93-609, were illegal

because Benson had not been convicted of any violent felony when those sentencing orders

were entered. Id. The orders were subsequently amended by removing the application of

section 16-93-609 to Benson’s sentences. Benson’s current petition challenges all three

convictions based on defective informations.

2 II. Grounds for Issuance of the Writ

A writ of habeas corpus is proper when a judgment and commitment order is invalid

on its face or when a trial court lacked jurisdiction over the cause. Foreman v. State, 2019

Ark. 108, 571 S.W.3d 484. 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).

When the trial court has personal jurisdiction over the appellant and also has jurisdiction

over the subject matter, the court has authority to render the judgment. Johnson v. State,

298 Ark. 479, 769 S.W.2d 3 (1989).

Under our statute, a petitioner who files a writ and does not allege his or her actual

innocence and proceed under Act 1780 of 2001, codified at Arkansas Code Annotated

sections 16-112-201 to -208 (Repl. 2016), 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 or she is being illegally detained. Ark.

Code Ann. § 16-112-103(a)(1) (Repl. 2016). Proceedings for the writ are not intended to

require an extensive review of the record of the trial proceedings, and the circuit court’s

inquiry into the validity of the judgment is limited to the face of the commitment order.

McArthur v. State, 2019 Ark. 220, 577 S.W.3d 385. Unless the petitioner can show that the

trial court lacked jurisdiction or that the commitment order was 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.

3 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. Claims for Relief

As stated above, Benson claimed in the petition filed in the circuit court entitlement

to habeas relief on the basis that each information filed in his criminal cases was not signed

by the prosecuting attorney but was instead signed by the deputy prosecutor. Benson raises

the same claims on appeal and relies on this court’s holding in Johnson v. State, 199 Ark. 196,

133 S.W.2d 15 (1939), for the proposition that the judgments in those cases were rendered

void as a result of the prosecutor’s failure to sign the charging informations.

Claims of a defective information that raise a jurisdictional issue, such as those that

raise a claim of an illegal sentence, are cognizable in a habeas proceeding. Philyaw v. Kelley,

2015 Ark. 465, 477 S.W.3d 503. However, allegations of a defective information are

generally not considered jurisdictional and are instead treated as trial error. Id. This court

has considered and rejected the precise argument raised by Benson and, in so doing, has

cited prior holdings that an information filed in the name of a deputy prosecutor was

voidable rather than void and therefore was not within the purview of habeas proceedings.

Randle v. Straughn, 2020 Ark. 117, 595 S.W.3d 361 (citing State v. Eason & Fletcher, 200

4 Ark. 1112, 143 S.W.2d 22 (1940)). The circuit court did not clearly err when it rejected

Benson’s claim for habeas relief as not cognizable.

Affirmed.

WEBB, J., concurs without opinion.

Tyrell Benson, pro se appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att’y Gen., by: Adam Jackson, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.