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

Summary

The court granted Strawhacker permission to reinvest the circuit court with jurisdiction to consider coram-nobis relief based on the government's repudiation of material hair-comparison testimony presented at his trial. It held that the established categories for coram-nobis relief are not exclusive and directed the circuit court to consider a rule-of-reason theory if the claim does not fit an existing category, with materiality to be determined after an evidentiary hearing. Justice Danielson, joined by Justice Goodson, concurred in granting jurisdiction but would have withheld advisory instructions concerning expansion of coram nobis and alternative remedies.