Faulkens v. State , 2017 Ark. 291 ( 2017 )

Cite as 2017 Ark. 291
SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS.
No. CR-00-698
Opinion Delivered October 26, 2017
BRIAN LEONARD FAULKENS
PETITIONER
PRO SE PETITION TO REINVEST
V. JURISDICTION IN THE TRIAL COURT
TO CONSIDER A PETITION FOR WRIT
STATE OF ARKANSAS OF ERROR CORAM NOBIS
RESPONDENT [CRITTENDEN COUNTY CIRCUIT
COURT, NOS. 18CR-97-85, 18CR-97-
86, 18CR-97-88]
PETITION DENIED.
RHONDA K. WOOD, Associate Justice
Petitioner Brian Leonard Faulkens brings this petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the
trial court to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis. Faulkens alleges the
following: the State violated his constitutional rights by amending the information three
times; the State violated Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-95-101 (1987), the Interstate
Agreement on Detainers; the State violated Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-701-706
(1987), which governs the process by which the defendant charged with a criminal offense
is arraigned; and he was illegally arrested on a pretext. Because none of Faulkens’s claims
states a basis for the writ, the petition is denied.
Cite as 2017 Ark. 291
The petition for leave to proceed in the trial court is necessary because the judgment
in Faulkens’s case was affirmed,1 and the trial court can entertain a petition for writ of error
coram nobis after a judgment has been affirmed on appeal only after we grant permission.
Newman v. State, 2009 Ark. 539, 354 S.W.3d 61. The function of the writ is to secure relief
from a judgment rendered while there existed some fact that would have prevented its
rendition if it had been known to the trial court and which, through no negligence or fault
of the defendant, was not brought forward before rendition of the judgment. Id. The writ
is allowed only under compelling circumstances to achieve justice and to address errors of
the most fundamental nature. Roberts v. State, 2013 Ark. 56, 425 S.W.3d 771. A writ of
error coram nobis is available for addressing certain errors that are found in one of four
categories: (1) insanity at the time of trial, (2) a coerced guilty plea, (3) material evidence
withheld by the prosecutor, or (4) a third-party confession to the crime during the time
between conviction and appeal. Howard v. State, 2012 Ark. 177, 403 S.W.3d 38.
Faulkens’s petition is based on allegations of error that occurred in the course of the
criminal proceedings against him. Coram nobis proceedings do not provide an avenue to
challenge rulings by the trial court. Such allegations, by their very nature, are outside the
purview of a coram nobis proceeding because the facts at issue were known at the time of
trial and could have been addressed at trial and on the record on direct appeal. See Green v.
State, 2016 Ark. 386, 502 S.W.3d 524. Faulkens has not established that the trial court
1
Faulkens v. State, CACR-00-698 (Ark. App. Feb. 14, 2001) (unpublished).
2
Cite as 2017 Ark. 291
lacked jurisdiction, that the judgment in his case was otherwise illegal, or that the claims are
within the scope of one of the four categories recognized as a ground for relief in a coram
nobis proceeding. The onus is on the petitioner to demonstrate a basis on which the writ
should issue. See Jackson v. State, 2017 Ark. 195, 520 S.W.3d. 242. Faulkens has not met
that burden.
Petition denied.
3