Title: Thomas v. State

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

Nathaniel THOMAS v. STATE of Arkansas

CR 96-803                                          ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered November 6, 1997


1.   Motions -- directed-verdict motion overruled -- reliance on
     motion waived if any additional evidence presented. -- A
     defendant who goes forward with the production of additional
     evidence after a directed-verdict motion is overruled waives
     any further reliance upon the former motion.  

2.   Appeal & error -- determining whether trial court erred in
     reviewing its own previous decision to deny appellant's
     directed-verdict motion -- standard of review. -- In
     determining whether the trial court erred in reviewing its own
     previous decision to deny appellant's motion for directed
     verdict, the appropriate standard of review is whether the
     trial court's decision was clearly erroneous or clearly
     against the preponderance of the evidence presented at trial
     and during the hearing on the Rule 37 petition.
 
3.   Attorney & client -- effectiveness of counsel -- criteria for
     assessing. -- The criteria for assessing the effectiveness of
     counsel were enunciated in Strickland v. Washington,