FAYETTEVILLE -- Heather Carlene Swain asked a judge Tuesday to set aside her conviction as an accomplice to capital murder, claiming that her sentence is disproportionate to her role in the killing.
She was sentenced to life in prison without parole for her role in the murder of Ronnie Bradley. Both lived in Prairie Grove.
Legal lingo
Rule 37 Petition
A petition for postconviction relief based upon Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37, which typically argues that a defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. The petition is aimed at showing trial counsel failed to do their job properly. A petitioner must convince the court that if they’d had proper representation then they might not have been convicted.
Source: Arkansas Criminal Appeals Blog
Swain also argued that medications she was taking before her trial left her mentally incapable of considering plea bargains. She thought there was an offer on the table of "20 years with five out the door" on a plea to second-degree murder, she said.
"If I hadn't been foggy-headed and confused, there's no way I would have rejected it," Swain said.
Bill James, who represented Swain at trial, testified during Tuesday's hearing that prosecutors did not tender a plea offer to Swain, but that he talked with her about making an offer to the prosecution.
James said Prosecuting Attorney John Threet expected plea offers to come from the defense. James said he asked several times for Swain's approval to make a plea offer, but that she wasn't interested in anything more severe than probation even as he explained that the consequences of going to trial could include life without parole.
"She never accepted it. She was definitely made aware of it," James said. "I felt comfortable I was presenting it in a way she could understand, but she just didn't like what she was hearing. She never gave me permission to go forward with anything."
Swain had two mental examinations and both found her fit to stand trial.
A Washington County Circuit Court jury convicted Swain, 38, in January 2014 of being an accomplice to capital murder and kidnapping. She received a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole on the murder charge and an additional 25 years on the kidnapping charge.
Bradley, 48, was severely beaten and strangled. His body was found dumped Dec. 27, 2012, in a driveway in rural southwest Washington County.
Prosecutors said Swain, James Patton, Timothy Swinford and Anthony Allen Swinford drove around rural areas of the county in Swain's car for eight hours while Bradley was repeatedly beaten, primarily by Anthony Swinford.
The Swinford brothers and Patton avoided the death penalty or life in prison by pleading guilty. All three were charged with being an accomplice to first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Anthony Swinford, 37, was sentenced to two consecutive 40-year terms in prison.
Timothy Swinford, 39, was sentenced to 80 years in prison with 30 years suspended.
Patton, 37, was sentenced to 60 years with 30 years suspended.
The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld Swain's conviction and life sentence on appeal.
Jeff Rosenzweig of Little Rock is representing Swain on her appeal. Rosenzweig argued Tuesday that Swain received ineffective counsel at her trial because a co-defendant, Anthony Swinford, was called as a defense witness. Anthony Swinford testified that Swain slapped Bradley several times during the beating and egged on her co-defendants, but Rosenzweig said that account was inaccurate.
The testimony undercut Swain's contention that she didn't help to kill Bradley but was merely present, Rosenzweig said.
Swain seeks to have her conviction vacated in favor of a new trial or to have her sentence reduced. The petition suggests that she would plead guilty to murder in the second degree and that a 20-year sentence on that charge would be more in line with her role in the killing.
Swain is being held at the McPherson Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Newport.
Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay said he would try to have a written ruling filed by the end of next week.
State Desk on 06/01/2016