Eugene Issac Pitts, Petitioner v. State of Arkansas, Respondent

Summary

The court granted Pitts permission to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court so he could pursue a writ of error coram nobis or other postconviction relief based on the Department of Justice's repudiation of the forensic hair-analysis testimony used at his murder trial. The court concluded that the repudiated testimony presented a sufficient basis to pursue extraordinary relief concerning a judgment allegedly affected by previously unavailable evidence. Justices Goodson and Danielson concurred in part and dissented in part, objecting that the court acted before a fully developed record was available and raising concerns about the timeliness and diligence of Pitts's claim.