Title: Jack Gordon Greene v. State of Arkansas

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

Jack Gordon GREENE v. STATE of Arkansas

CR 96-362                                          ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
              Opinion delivered September 30, 1996


1.   Criminal procedure -- death penalty -- appeal may be withdrawn
     by competent appellant. -- An appeal, even when a death
     sentence is involved, may be withdrawn if done by a competent
     appellant.

2.   Criminal procedure -- death penalty -- motion to withdraw
     appeal denied. -- The supreme court declined to grant
     appellant's motion to withdraw his death-sentence appeal
     because it was not an unequivocal request.


     Motion to Withdraw Appeal; denied.
     William Pearson, for petitioner.
     No response.

     Per Curiam.
     The petitioner, Jack Gordon Greene, has filed two pro se
motions with the Court, and his attorney, William Pearson, has
filed a third motion seeking direction on how to proceed in view of
Mr. Greene's motions.  Mr. Greene's first motion is to withdraw his
appeal from his death sentence.  His second motion is styled,
"Motion Supplement of Record."  We deny Mr. Greene's motions.  Mr.
Pearson's question will be answered in the course of the opinion
that follows.
     The three motions have arisen from criminal proceedings in
Johnson County Circuit Court.  On July 26, 1991, Mr. Greene was
arrested in Norman, Oklahoma, for his role in the July 23, 1991
slaying of Sidney Burnett in Arkansas.  Mr. Greene was returned to
Arkansas to stand trial for capital murder in Johnson County.
     Apparently, after his return to Arkansas, but before the
Johnson County trial commenced, Mr. Greene was transported to North
Carolina to stand trial in an unrelated capital murder case.  The
appellate decision which arose from the North Carolina trial
suggests Mr. Greene was convicted of first-degree murder during
1992.  The North Carolina Supreme Court reversed the conviction and
ordered a new trial on January 28, 1994.  State v. Greene,