Lawyers told to resume work on convict’s appeal
While it has been several years since a Texarkana man was sentenced to 80 years in prison for raping, robbing and kidnapping his former Sunday school teacher, his lawyers were said to have not taken any action on his appeal until a state Supreme Court order was recently issued.
The Arkansas Supreme Court weighed in on the case of Vasquez Hayes in an order last month that directs Lawrence Walker and Crystal Okoro, both of Little Rock, to get back to work on Hayes’ behalf after finding they apparently stopped working on the appeal without being relieved of their duty by either a trial or appellate court.
Hayes filed motions with the state’s highest court, which triggered the order. The order notes that Walker and Okoro filed a notice of appeal in Hayes’ case in 2017. Defense lawyers routinely ask trial judges to relieve them from a criminal case and appoint appellate counsel in cases that result in conviction and lengthy prison sentences, particularly if a defendant is deemed indigent and eligible for a state-funded direct appeal.
Walker and Okoro cemented their obligation to Hayes by filing a notice of appeal but took no additional action afterward, according to records.
In November 2019, Circuit Judge Carlton Jones, who presided over Hayes’ trial, asked Walker and Okoro to “provide the court with the status of the case.”
In response, Walker and Okoro filed a motion seeking to dismiss the appeal, stating that “Hayes must consult legal counsel in order to proceed.”
The motion seeking the appeal’s dismissal in December 2019 alleges that Hayes “no longer wanted to pursue an appeal,” though that statement conflicts with the motions Hayes filed with the Arkansas Supreme Court asking for help in his case.
Jones never released Walker and Okoro from the case, and after filing a notice of appeal, only an appellate court has authority to do so.
“In sum, once the notice of appeal was filed, counsel for Hayes were obligated to perfect the appeal,” the Arkansas Supreme Court’s order states. “It is well settled that under no circumstances may an attorney who has not been relieved by the court abandon an appeal.”
The higher court gave Walker and Okoro an Oct. 29 deadline to either petition for the record or, if they already had it, to file it themselves.
Walker filed a petition that stated that the “defendant,” presumably meaning Hayes’ lawyers, would pick up the record and deliver it to the appellate court. Once the record is filed, an appellate court establishes deadlines for filings of appellate and reply briefs.
Hayes’ victim has become an outspoken advocate for victims of sexual assault since her ordeal in November 2015. She asked that her name be used even though it is Texarkana Gazette policy to withhold the identities of sexual assault survivors.
Amy Stanley started teaching classes at the church next door to her former Dudley Street home in Texarkana, Ark., when she moved from California to Texarkana in 2006. Stanley and her former husband often entertained children from the classes at their home, where they shared their faith and their love of animals. Hayes was about 12 at the time, and according to witness testimony, his obsession with his Sunday school teacher only grew stronger as he grew older.
After using drugs and fighting with his wife, Hayes dressed himself in a black hoodie that he pulled tightly around his face, records show. He covered the lower half of his face with fabric and wore sunglasses. He carried a BB pistol that was designed as a replica of a semi-automatic handgun. He admitted to police that he heard Stanley showering and that he heard her talk to her dog as he waited in her yard shortly before she opened her back door to let the miniature schnauzer out.
Hayes stood in the doorway, a masked man pointing a pistol at her at 1 a.m. He pushed her inside and declined her pleas to take her valuables and leave. Hayes repeatedly raped Stanley in her own bed while making crass and vulgar comments, according to records.
Stanley said she thought she was sure to be murdered when Hayes insisted she ride in her car with him to withdraw her money from an ATM to put in his pocket. Hayes threatened to shoot her and her dog and casually mentioned throwing her in a river, according to records.
Stanley said she was terrified when Hayes dumped her on Fairview Avenue about 3 a.m. and drove away in her car, which he’d damaged on a metal barrier, shattering her windshield and ruining her hood. A couple in the area took her into their home and called police.
Hayes was found guilty in April 2017 of two counts of rape, two counts of theft of property, kidnapping, aggravated residential burglary and aggravated robbery and is currently serving the 80-year term.