Pafford v. State

Appellant James Pafford appeals from an order of the Hempstead County Circuit Court denying his petition for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1. For reversal, he contends that the circuit court erred by denying him an evidentiary hearing on his Rule 37 petition. We affirm.

I. Relevant History

We explained the incident that led to the underlying charges in Pafford v. State , 2017 Ark. App. 700, at 2, 537 S.W.3d 302, 305 :

Pafford sexually abused then twelve-year-old M.W. on two occasions in February 2015. Both encounters took place at Pafford's home.…