APPEAL
FROM THE LINCOLN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 40CR-11-47]
HONORABLE ALEX GUYNN, JUDGE.
Justin
Thornton, pro se appellant.
Leslie
Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Vada Berger, Ass't
Att'y Gen., for appellee.
JOHN
DAN KEMP, CHIEF JUSTICE
Appellant
Justin Thornton appeals an order dismissing his petition to
correct an illegal sentence. For reversal, he contends that
the circuit court erred in dismissing his petition because
this court reversed and dismissed all of his convictions in
Thornton v. State, 2014 Ark. 157, 433 S.W.3d 216
(Thornton I). We affirm.
I.
Facts and Procedural History
A.
Thornton I
Following
a bench trial held in February 2013, the Lincoln County
Circuit Court found Thornton guilty of capital murder, felon
in possession of a firearm, unauthorized use of a vehicle,
and abuse of a corpse for which he was sentenced to life
without parole plus ten years for his commission of the
murder with a firearm. Thornton appealed to this court. His
sole claim for reversal was that the circuit court erred in
denying his motion for directed verdict on the capital-murder
charge because the proof failed to establish that he acted
with the requisite premeditation and deliberation.
Thornton I, 2014 Ark. 157, at 1, 433 S.W.3d at 217.
We held that the evidence was insufficient to support a
conclusion that Thornton killed the victim with a
premeditated and deliberate intent; therefore, we reversed
and dismissed. Further, we stated, "While the evidence
cannot sustain the charge of capital murder, we offer no
opinion about whether it would sustain a lesser
offense." Id. at 15, 433 S.W.3d at 224. The
State filed a petition for rehearing contending that this
court committed errors of law in its analysis of the
sufficiency of the evidence for the capital-murder
conviction. In addition, the State contended that because
"only the sufficiency of the element of premeditation
and deliberation of the capital murder conviction was raised
on appeal, the Court should clarify that the convictions of
felony theft of property, [1] possession of a firearm, and abuse of a
corpse still stand." We denied the State's petition
for rehearing. Thereafter, we issued our mandate, which
stated, in pertinent part, "After due consideration, it
is the decision of the court that the conviction is reversed
and dismissed for the reasons set out in the attached
opinion."
B.
Thornton II
After
this court's mandate issued in Thornton I, the
State filed in the circuit court a "Motion for Court to
Consider Lesser-Included Offenses." The circuit court
granted the State's motion and set a hearing for December
1, 2014. At the hearing, Thornton argued that the circuit
court lacked jurisdiction to consider the lesser-included
offenses, that the conviction of a lesser-included offense
following the reversal and dismissal of a greater offense
violates double-jeopardy principles, that his right to a
speedy trial was violated, and that the circuit court denied
him due process at the hearing when it did not allow him to
argue that there was insufficient evidence to sustain
convictions of the lesser-included offenses. The circuit
court rejected Thornton's arguments, ruled that the
evidence from the February 2013 bench trial was sufficient to
prove that Thornton acted with purpose in causing the death
of the victim, and found Thornton guilty of first-degree
murder. The circuit court sentenced Thornton, as a habitual
offender, to forty years' imprisonment for first-degree
murder, enhanced by ten years for its commission with a
firearm. After noting that Thornton's other convictions
and sentences had not been affected by this court's
reversal and dismissal in Thornton I, the circuit
court entered an amended sentencing order on December 16,
2014. The amended sentencing order reflected that Thornton
was sentenced to an aggregate term of seventy years'
imprisonment for his four convictions.
Thornton
appealed and challenged only his conviction and sentence for
first-degree murder. See Thornton v. State, 2015
Ark. 438, at 4, n.3, 475 S.W.3d 544, 546 n.3 (Thornton
II). We reversed and dismissed, holding that the circuit
court did not have jurisdiction to hear the State's
"Motion for Court to Consider Lesser-Included
Offenses." Id. at 5, 475 S.W.3d at 547. Our
mandate issued on January 14, 2016, and stated, in pertinent
part, "After due consideration, it is the decision of
the court that the conviction is reversed and dismissed for
the reasons set out in the attached opinion."
II.
Present Appeal
On July
1, 2016, Thornton filed in the circuit court a petition to
correct an illegal sentence pursuant to Arkansas Code
Annotated section 16-90-111(a) (Repl. 2016).[2] He claimed that,
by reversing and dismissing his conviction in
Thornton I, this court reversed and dismissed
all of his convictions. In his petition,
Thornton stated,
The Lincoln County Circuit Court has refused to obey the
Supreme Court's mandate entirely reversing and dismissing
my entire conviction and has instead entered a sentencing
order contrary to the Arkansas Supreme Court mandate. I am
currently doing a sentence of 240 months for possession of
firearm by certain person and 240 months for abuse of corpse.
Charges I am no longer convicted of due to the ...