Willie Alvin Smith v. State of Arkansas

── Willie Alvin Smith v. State of Arkansas ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: April 22, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 244 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION II No. CR-25-302 Opinion Delivered April 22, 2026 WILLIE ALVIN SMITH APPEAL FROM THE GARLAND APPELLANT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 26CR-23-16] V. HONORABLE RALPH C. OHM, JUDGE STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE REBRIEFING ORDERED; MOTION TO WITHDRAW DENIED BART F. VIRDEN, Judge A Garland County jury convicted appellant Willie Alvin Smith of two counts of rape, and he was sentenced to an aggregate term of sixty-five years’ imprisonment. Trial counsel filed a notice of appeal and then withdrew from representing Smith. Appellate counsel was appointed, and she filed a motion to withdraw along with a no-merit brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-3(b), purporting to have addressed all adverse rulings. Smith tendered pro se points for reversal. Because counsel failed to discuss all of the adverse rulings in the record in compliance with Anders and Rule 4-3(b), we deny counsel’s motion to withdraw and order rebriefing. I. Background  On January 13, 2023, Smith was charged with one count of raping his niece (“MC”) who was under the age of fourteen at the time. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-14-103(a)(3)(A) (Supp. 2019). On January 14, 2025, shortly before trial, the State amended the information to charge Smith with a second count of rape at a time when MC was a minor and he was her uncle. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-14-103(a)(4)(A)(ii). A jury trial was held on February 10 and 11, 2025. The trial revealed that a hotline call had been made by a counselor at MC’s school. MC, who was sixteen years old at that time, was taken for a forensic interview during which MC disclosed several instances of sexual abuse committed by Smith. Detective Brian Branstetter with the Hot Springs Police Department observed the interview of MC at the Child Advocacy Center and later interviewed Smith at the police station. MC, who was nineteen years old at the time of trial, testified that Smith began sexually abusing her when she was approximately twelve years old. Defense counsel called Brandy Smith, Smith’s wife and MC’s aunt, to testify on his behalf; the defense also called Pamela Lininger, MC’s grandmother, who lived with Smith and Brandy during the relevant time period, to testify on Smith’s behalf. Moreover, Smith took the stand to testify. The jury returned a guilty verdict and sentenced Smith to consecutive terms of thirty-five years on count one and thirty years on count two. II. Adverse Rulings Appellate counsel addressed the sufficiency of the evidence, a speedy-trial issue, trial objections—some of which were not adverse––and sentencing. Appellate counsel, however, failed to address two adverse rulings that occurred while trial counsel was questioning MC; 2 an adverse ruling when Detective Branstetter was re-called to the stand; and the denial of Smith’s request for a bond reduction. A. Cross-Examination of the Victim Defense counsel became argumentative during his cross-examination of MC, and the trial court sustained the State’s objections in the following excerpts: [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Were you scared whenever he was bribing you with vapes? [MC]: Yeah, of course. [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Yeah, you