Summary
The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the denial of Albert Lewis, Jr.'s petition under Act 1780 seeking scientific testing of physical evidence based on an actual-innocence claim. The court held that Lewis abandoned the only reviewable issue by failing to challenge the circuit court's ruling and that his newly raised trial-error and ineffective-assistance claims were not preserved and were not cognizable under Act 1780.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the circuit court erred in denying Lewis's Act 1780 petition seeking scientific testing of physical evidence.
- Whether Lewis preserved any claim of error concerning the denial of habeas relief when his appellate brief did not identify an error by the circuit court and instead raised claims not presented in the petition below.
- Whether claims of trial error and ineffective assistance of counsel are cognizable in a petition under Act 1780.
Holdings
- Lewis abandoned any argument concerning the only issue reviewable on appeal because his brief did not set forth an allegation of error against the circuit court's denial of habeas relief.
- Claims not raised in the petition below are not preserved for appellate review and will not be addressed because the lower court could not have considered them.
- Claims of trial error and ineffective assistance of counsel are not cognizable in a petition filed under Act 1780, which is limited to claims related to scientific testing of evidence.
Key quotations
“All arguments made below but not raised on appeal are abandoned.” (at 2)
“The Act does not provide an opportunity to raise issues outside the purview of the Act, and it is not a substitute for pursuing other remedies that may be available to the convicted defendant to address errors of constitutional dimension.” (at 3)
Factual background
Lewis was convicted in 2008 of kidnapping and rape and was sentenced as a habitual offender to consecutive terms of 360 months' imprisonment for kidnapping and life imprisonment for rape. In his later Act 1780 petition, he sought scientific testing of a jacket, two pairs of men's underwear, couch pillows, and two knives allegedly found at the crime scene. He contended that testing would establish his actual innocence and asserted that his DNA had never been found at the scene.
Procedural history
Lewis was convicted by a jury of kidnapping and rape and received consecutive habitual-offender sentences. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed his convictions, and it later dismissed his appeal from the denial of his Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1 petition. Lewis then filed a pro se Act 1780 petition seeking scientific testing of physical evidence on the ground that testing would establish his actual innocence. The Crittenden County Circuit Court denied the petition, and the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed.