{
  "id": 1748039,
  "name": "Melvin Glenn HANEY v. STATE of Arkansas",
  "name_abbreviation": "Haney v. State",
  "decision_date": "1983-02-21",
  "docket_number": "CR 82-137",
  "first_page": "418",
  "last_page": "419",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "278 Ark. 418"
    },
    {
      "type": "parallel",
      "cite": "646 S.W.2d 9"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "Ark.",
    "id": 8808,
    "name": "Arkansas Supreme Court"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 34,
    "name_long": "Arkansas",
    "name": "Ark."
  },
  "cites_to": [
    {
      "cite": "254 Ark. 961",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "Ark.",
      "case_ids": [
        1624208
      ],
      "weight": 2,
      "year": 1973,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/ark/254/0961-01"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "274 Ark. 202",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "Ark.",
      "case_ids": [
        1755042
      ],
      "weight": 2,
      "year": 1981,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/ark/274/0202-01"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "analysis": {
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    "sha256": "0c10cbe556e7d28be9d2fd596ee53697e09fb39f36cbcb601f43650445bd0530",
    "simhash": "1:19ce618f041fd1d2",
    "word_count": 471
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:48:23.352095+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "Melvin Glenn HANEY v. STATE of Arkansas"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Darrell Hickman, Justice.\nThe only question in this case is whether a city attorney\u2019s acting as a criminal defense lawyer denies that defendant the effective assistance of counsel, a right granted by the sixth amendment to the United States Constitution. The trial court held that it does not and we affirm.\nMelvin Glenn Haney was convicted in the Pulaski County Circuit Court of four counts of theft by receiving, three being felonies, one a misdemeanor. He was sentenced a total of six years imprisonment for the felonies and six months jail time for the misdemeanor.\nHaney\u2019s trial lawyer, evidently retained by him, was the city attorney of North Little Rock. Different counsel filed a motion for a new trial stating that a conflict of interest existed at Haney\u2019s trial since the city attorney\u2019s position was a prosecuting attorney\u2019s role; that his trial counsel was charged with representing the city and sometimes the state against criminal defendants which was a role that necessarily conflicted with that of a criminal defendant\u2019s attorney in the same county. It was not even suggested the trial lawyer was ineffective in his performance; indeed, it was conceded he had vigorously and ably represented the defendant. Therein lies the answer to the question. A defendant has the burden to prove ineffective assistance of counsel to the degree that he was deprived of his constitutional right. Blackmon v. State, 274 Ark. 202, 623 S.W.2d 184 (1981); Leasuxe v. State, 254 Ark. 961, 497 S.W.2d 1 (1973). No evidence at all was offered in this regard; it is merely argued that it was improper for the city attorney to act in this case and that that amounts to ineffective assistance of counsel. Haney buttresses the argument with the statement that this is especially true since all the investigating officers were North Little Rock policemen who look to the city attorney for advice, support, and representation from time to time. The trial court found that the appellant failed to sustain his burden of proof and we affirm.\nWe do not reach the question of whether it is improper from an ethical standpoint for a city attorney to so act or whether the trial court should have excused the trial lawyer on a proper motion. It is not necessary to answer those questions here, and we might later be called upon to review findings of misconduct by our Committee on Professional Ethics in this or similar cases. Even if the representation was improper, it could not void the trial court\u2019s decision because the issue presented is ineffectiveness of counsel, not unethical conduct.\nAffirmed.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Darrell Hickman, Justice."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Harold W. Madden, for appellant.",
      "Steve Clark, Atty. Gen., by: Victra L. Fewell, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "Melvin Glenn HANEY v. STATE of Arkansas\nCR 82-137\n646 S.W.2d 9\nSupreme Court of Arkansas\nOpinion delivered February 21, 1983\nHarold W. Madden, for appellant.\nSteve Clark, Atty. Gen., by: Victra L. Fewell, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0418-01",
  "first_page_order": 448,
  "last_page_order": 449
}