George Riley v. A.L. Lockhart, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction

George Riley' was convicted of first-degree murder after a jury trial in the Pulaski County, Arkansas Circuit Court in March 1971. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. He appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, alleging that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on lesser included offenses. The court affirmed the conviction upon a finding that the trial court had offered to instruct on second-degree murder, but declined to so charge the jury because Riley’s trial counsel objected. Riley v. State, 251 Ark. 712, 474 S.W.2d 410 (1971). Riley next filed a motion in the Arkansas…