Case Title: Hall v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: CR96-875

State: arkansas

Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Date: 1997-09-18T00:00:00Z

Document:
Neal HALL v. STATE of Arkansas

CR 96-875                                          ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
              Opinion delivered September 18, 1997


1.   Attorney & client -- claim of ineffective assistance of
     counsel -- proof required to prevail. -- To prevail on a claim
     of ineffective assistance of counsel, the petitioner must show
     first that counsel's performance was deficient; this requires
     showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was
     not functioning as the "counsel" guaranteed the petitioner by
     the sixth amendment; secondly, the petitioner must show that
     the deficient performance prejudiced the defense, which
     requires showing that counsel's errors were so serious as to
     deprive the petitioner of a fair trial; unless a petitioner
     makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction
     resulted from a breakdown in the adversarial process that
     renders the result unreliable; there is a strong presumption
     that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of
     reasonable professional assistance; the petitioner must show
     there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's
     errors, the factfinder would have had a reasonable doubt
     respecting guilt, i.e., the decision reached would have been
     different absent the errors; a reasonable probability is a
     probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome
     of the trial; in making a determination on a claim of
     ineffectiveness, the totality of the evidence before the judge
     or jury must be considered.  
2.   Criminal law -- rape -- uncorroborated testimony of victim may
     constitute substantial evidence to sustain rape conviction. --
     The uncorroborated testimony of a rape victim may constitute
     substantial evidence to sustain a conviction of rape.

3.   Evidence -- sufficient evidence existed for conviction without
     evidence seized pursuant to warrant -- appellant not
     prejudiced by attorney's failure to suppress evidence that
     served to corroborate victim's testimony. -- Where the victim
     testified concerning the circumstances of the rape and made an
     in-court identification of appellant as her attacker, and
     appellant did not make an issue of his counsel's failure to
     challenge this identification, appellant was not prejudiced by
     his attorney's alleged failure to suppress evidence which
     served to corroborate the victim's testimony.


     Appeal from Pope Circuit Court; John S. Patterson, Judge;
affirmed.
     William M. Pearson, for appellant.
     Winston Bryant, Att'y Gen., by:  Sandy Moll, Asst. Att'y Gen.,
for appellee.

     Per Curiam.
     The appellant, Neal Hall, was convicted of rape and kidnapping
and was sentenced to prison for forty years and five years,
respectively.  The Trial Court ordered that the terms be served
concurrently.  Hall filed a motion for a new trial in which he
alleged that the prosecutor failed to disclose, pursuant to a
discovery request, that a material witness had a felony conviction. 
We affirmed the Trial Court's denial of that motion in Hall v.
State, 306 Ark. 329,