John D. Pruitt v. Terrell Don Hutto, Commissioner, Arkansas Department of Correction

Petitioner, John D. Pruitt, appeals from a District Court judgment dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We affirm the District Court’s disposition.

Pruitt was convicted in an Arkansas state court of first degree rape of an eight-year-old girl and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Pruitt had previously been convicted of homicide and indecent exposure. There was no appeal taken from the rape conviction. Two years after this conviction Pruitt filed a state post-conviction relief action pursuant to the predecessor of Rule 37 of the Arkansas…