Chambers v. State

George Rose Smith, Justice.

This is a petition for post-conviction relief under Criminal Procedure Rule 37. The petitioner alleged, among other things, ineffective assistance of counsel as a ground for withdrawing his plea of guilty. After an evidentiary hearing the trial court denied the petition.

At the evidentiary hearing Chambers’s present counsel, who was appointed, asked that the witnesses be excluded from the courtroom, as required by the statutes. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-2021 (Repl. 1977); Uniform Rules of Evidence, Rule 615, Ark. Stat. Ann. § 28-1001 (Supp. 1977). Mike Etoch, as retained…