Butler v. State

Ellis Charles Butler was convicted by a jury of three counts of rape. The victim was under the age of fourteen. He was sentenced to thirty-two years’ imprisonment on each count to be served consecutively, for an aggregate sentence of ninety-six years’ imprisonment.

Currently pending before this court is appellant’s appeal from the denial of his petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. In order to reach the merits of this appeal, it is necessary to review the history of this case. A time line of relevant events is as follows.

1997 Appellant was convicted by a jury of…