Greg Hogue v. State of Arkansas

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the denial of Greg Hogue’s petition to correct an illegal sentence and denied his motion for appointment of counsel and oral argument. The court held that his constitutional challenge to a life-without-parole sentence imposed for a capital murder committed at age eighteen was not cognizable in an illegal-sentence proceeding and, alternatively, that Arkansas’s Constitution did not require extending Miller v. Alabama to eighteen-year-old offenders.

Holdings

1. A constitutional challenge to a life-without-parole sentence is not cognizable in a petition to correct an illegal sentence when the sentence was within the permitted statutory range and the circuit court had jurisdiction; such a claim is better suited for a habeas proceeding.
2. The Arkansas Constitution does not require a categorical extension of Miller v. Alabama's protections to an offender who was eighteen when the offense was committed, and Hogue's sentence therefore could not be invalidated on that basis.
3. The motion for appointment of counsel and oral argument was denied.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Hogue's constitutional challenge to his life-without-parole sentence was cognizable in a petition to correct an illegal sentence.
2. Whether the Arkansas Constitution requires extending Miller v. Alabama's protections to an offender who was eighteen when he committed capital murder.
3. Whether Hogue was entitled to appointment of counsel or oral argument.

Disposition

affirmed