Charles Edward Harris, Jr. v. State of Arkansas

── Charles Edward Harris, Jr. v. State of Arkansas ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: May 06, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 273 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION I No. CR-24-35 CHARLES EDWARD HARRIS, JR. Opinion Delivered: May 6, 2026 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, THIRD V. DIVISION [NO. 60CR-08-571] STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE HONORABLE CATHLEEN V. COMPTON, JUDGE AFFIRMED N. MARK KLAPPENBACH, Chief Judge Appellant Charles Edward Harris, Jr., appeals from the denial of his pro se petition to correct an illegal sentence filed pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-90-111 (Repl. 2016). On appeal, he argues that the circuit court erred in rejecting his challenge to the legality of his sentences for first-degree battery and committing a terroristic act because his convictions for both crimes violated the prohibition against double jeopardy. We affirm the circuit court’s denial of Harris’s petition. I. Background Facts and Procedural History On April 21, 2009, a Pulaski County jury convicted Harris of committing a terroristic act, a Class Y felony, and first-degree battery, a Class B felony. The crimes for which he was convicted occurred on December 28, 2007, when Harris fired eight or nine gunshots into a vehicle occupied by the victim, Leannell Robinson, and his friend. The gunshots shattered Robinson’s back window, and Robinson, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, was struck several times. One bullet went through his right arm. Another struck him in his right shoulder and lodged in his chest. He was also grazed by bullets on his forehead and left pinky finger. Following his convictions, the jury was instructed at sentencing that Harris had previously been convicted of two felonies: possession of a controlled substance—second offense and committing a terroristic act. Harris was sentenced as a habitual offender to fifteen years’ imprisonment on each offense, with the sentences to run concurrently. He filed a direct appeal in this court challenging only an evidentiary ruling. Harris v. State, 2010 Ark. App. 247, at 1. This court affirmed his convictions, and the appellate mandate issued on March 30, 2010. On January 19, 2023, Harris filed his “Petition to Correct a[n] Illegal Conviction and Sentence” pursuant to section 16-90-111 in the Pulaski County Circuit Court. In that petition, he asserted a double-jeopardy challenge to his 2009 terroristic-act and first-degree- battery convictions and sentences. Specifically, he claimed that his convictions for both committing a terroristic act and first-degree battery violated Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-1-110(a)(1) (Supp. 2007), which addresses multiple-offense prosecutions. He claimed that the first-degree battery for which he was convicted was a lesser-included offense of committing a terroristic act and that it was impossible to commit a terroristic act without also committing first-degree battery. He attached his April 2009 judgment and commitment order to the petition. He further claimed that those convictions had additional adverse 2 consequences because, after he was convicted of those crimes in April 2009, he pleaded guilty to robbery and theft of property on June 26, 2009, and that his first-degree-battery conviction was used to enhance his subsequent theft and robbery convictions. He attached his judgment and commitment order from the June 2009 robbery and theft convictions, which shows that Harri