Christopher Beverage, Appellant v. State of Arkansas, Appellee

Summary

The court held that the record did not conclusively defeat Beverage’s claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge his competency, because a competency evaluation contained missing pages and unresolved inconsistencies; it therefore remanded for an evidentiary hearing on that claim. The court affirmed denial of a hearing on the claim concerning investigation of the murder victim’s cause of death because Beverage failed to allege that he would have rejected the guilty plea and gone to trial. Justice Baker, joined by Justice Hart, would have remanded without deciding the alternative claim, while Justice Goodson would have remanded only to settle the incomplete record.