Post-Conviction Litigation

Arkansas and Federal 
Post-Conviction Litigation

In many instances, Arkansas juries are not given all the information necessary to make the right decision, whether due to the dishonesty of prosecutors or police, lack of diligence by trial counsel, or mistakes by the trial court. Reopening your case may be necessary to find the truth and get justice.

If your appeal was unsuccessful or if you pleaded guilty, you may also file a petition alleging some other type of legal error such as ineffective assistance on the part of your attorney. Typically, this involves alleging specific things that the attorney did/did not do, how that was deficient, and how that error prejudiced the outcome of your case. Sometimes, this also involves bringing to light evidence hidden or destroyed by the state, fundamental constitutional errors in the proceedings, or the discovery of new evidence that establishes your innocence.

The postconviction process is complex, unforgiving, and generally the last possible effort to change the outcome of the case. You do not have a right to an attorney for this type of appeal, and there are a series of complex procedural requirements that you must adhere to perfectly just to get your claims considered. Even then, the odds for this sort of postconviction petition are generally slim. Our attorneys have extensive experience at both the trial and appellate level in both Arkansas and federal courts with postconviction appeals