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Drew County forgery conviction upheld Friday, Oct 26, 2007 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A man serving 50 years in prison on forgery convictions from Drew County failed to convince the state Supreme Court he deserved a new trial. The high court Thursday rejected Robert C. Taylor's arguments that this lawyer was ineffective during his 2004 trial. A Drew County jury convicted Taylor of five counts of first-degree forgery and one count of first-degree continuing a criminal enterprise. The charges stemmed from what authorities said was Taylor's attempt to pass counterfeit bills, ranging from $10 to $100, at several stores in and around Monticello. Earlier this year, the state Court of Appeals dismissed the continuing criminal enterprise conviction but affirmed Taylor's forgery convictions. Taylor subsequently filed a circuit court motion for post-conviction relief, which Drew County Circuit Judge Samuel B. Pope denied. In his appeal of that decision, Taylor argued to the Supreme Court that his lawyer failed to suppress counterfeit money Taylor's landlord found, failed to call a store clerk as a witness and failed to request a jury instruction regarding an accomplice. He also argued that Pope should have granted relief because the judge told the jury during the sentencing phase of the trial that Taylor was on probation. The high court concluded there was no evidence to suggest Taylor's attorney was ineffectual, and that his argument that the judge erred did not make sense. |
