James Dale Cooper v. Jerry Campbell, Superintendent, Arkansas Department of Correction, Cummins Unit, and Attorney General, State of Arkansas

I respectfully dissent. Although I agree with the majority opinion on all other issues, I cannot agree with the majority’s disposition of Cooper’s claim that he was entitled to manslaughter instructions. In my view, the trial court’s failure to give the requested instructions was an error of constitutional significance which is cognizable in habeas corpus, and which cannot be dismissed as harmless error.

Normally, jury instructions in state criminal trials are matters of state law, and errors in such instructions are not of constitutional proportion. However, under some circumstances, errors…