Ricky Earl White v. State of Arkansas — Hart, J., Dissenting

Summary

Justice Hart dissented from affirmance of the denial of postconviction relief, agreeing that trial counsel performed deficiently but concluding that White was prejudiced as a matter of law or, alternatively, under the reasonable-probability standard. The dissent reasoned that counsel prevented White from testifying, abandoned the justification defense without consulting him, and failed to subject the State’s case to meaningful adversarial testing. Justice Hart also argued that the trial court improperly resolved White’s credibility instead of allowing a jury to do so.