Neal v. State (Majority)
Annotate this CaseThe Supreme Court of Arkansas upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Ricky Lewis Neal, a blind man who was sentenced as a violent-felony habitual offender to life imprisonment. The case arose from the death of Neal’s fiancée, Alice Cawley. Neal had expressed dissatisfaction with his appointed counsel multiple times and sought to represent himself before trial. He also objected to the admission of hearsay evidence in the form of a lost voicemail from the victim saying that Neal was trying to kill her. The court ruled that Neal did not unequivocally invoke his right to self-representation, as his statements indicated that he was simply dissatisfied with his counsel and wanted new counsel, rather than wanting to waive his right to counsel. Regarding the hearsay evidence, the court found that the victim’s statement expressing fear of Neal fell within the hearsay exception for a declarant's then-existing state of mind, emotion, or sensation in Rule 803(3) of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence. Therefore, the court affirmed the conviction and sentence.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.