Court Opinion

ID: 9682642
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 08:15:06.648741+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:40.563405
License: Public Domain

John I. Purtle, Justice, dissenting. I disagree with the majority opinion because it limits our review of effectiveness of counsel. We granted the petition for the purpose of determining whether counsel was ineffective in three specific instances. However, the hearing developed many other instances of what I feel amounted to ineffective assistance. Looking at the record as a whole it is obvious that petitioner in effect had no counsel at his trial, and certainly not an effective one. Counsel for the defense did not voir dire the jury; made no opening statement; made only one objection during the entire trial; did not object to any statements or evidence which the state desired to present; did not interview a single witness before trial; did not make a motion for a directed verdict at the close of the state’s case nor after all evidence was presented; and, failed to object to appellant’s wife testifying that he threatened her with a gun many times or to the testimony of the doctor stating in effect that appellant was guilty. So far as I am concerned the appellant was sent to prison without effective assistance of counsel. Perhaps he is guilty and maybe he would have been found so had he had the best counsel on earth. Nevertheless, he was entitled to effective counsel at his trial, under the 6th Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. 2, § 10 of the Arkansas Constitution. When this court reviews the record in a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, we should consider the record below in its entirety and base our judgment thereon. To limit our review of these genre of cases is to do a disservice both to the individual petitioners who may have suffered injustice within the confines of our system of justice and to the legal profession as a whole.