Morgan v. Norris

Appellant pleaded guilty in Sebastian County Circuit Court to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment by judgment entered September 1, 1988. Pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 16-112-101, appellant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on November 19, 2001, in Lincoln County Circuit Court, the county in which he is incarcerated. The Lincoln County Circuit Court denied appellant’s petition, and from that order comes this appeal. This court has made it clear that a writ of habeas corpus will issue when a commitment is invalid on its face or when the sentencing court lacked…