Karl Douglas Roberts v. State of Arkansas

Summary

The court granted Roberts’s motion to reopen his postconviction proceedings and reinvested the circuit court with jurisdiction under Rule 37.5(b). It held that the competency evaluations relied on at the time of Roberts’s waiver were too remote and were not directed to whether he could choose between life and death and knowingly waive postconviction review, constituting a breakdown in the appellate process. Because the motion was granted on that ground, the court did not reach Roberts’s remaining arguments.