Lonnie Dolphus Strawhacker, Petitioner v. State of Arkansas, Respondent

Summary

The court granted Strawhacker permission to proceed in the circuit court with a petition for writ of error coram nobis because the government had repudiated materially overstated hair-comparison testimony offered by its expert at trial. The court held that coram-nobis relief may be considered under a rule of reason when the claim does not fit an established category, and directed the circuit court to determine whether the testimony was material. Justice Danielson, joined by Justice Goodson, concurred in granting permission but would not have addressed expansion of coram nobis or prescribed the merits framework before an evidentiary record existed.