Heffernan v. State (Per Curiam)
Annotate this CaseAppellant Robert Heffernan was convicted by a jury of capital murder for the abduction, rape, and murder of a fourteen-year-old girl. Appellant filed a habeas corpus petition for relief under Ark. Code Ann. 16-112-201, claiming that his co-defendant, Mike Breault, raped and murdered the victim and that Breault later confessed to the crime. Appellant requested that the evidence from the crime scene be DNA tested so as to conclusively identify Breault as the murder and rapist. The circuit court denied Appellant's petition, holding that testing the semen found on the victim and matching it to Breault would not prove Appellant's actual innocence because Appellant was charged and convicted as an accomplice to Breault, nor would it demonstrate that Appellant did not act as an accomplice. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that under the circumstances, the circuit court was correct to find that the DNA testing Appellant requested could not exonerate him, and it was proper to deny his petition.
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