Woman’s appeal in child abuse case may get its day in court, lawyer takes blame for late filing

A request for post-conviction relief by a Mountain Home woman sentenced to 26 years in prison for her alleged involvement in an incident leaving her then 3-week-old son seriously injured may get its day in court.

Thirty-three-year-old Alyssia Kirby-Snow was found guilty by a Baxter County Circuit Court jury in early February last year of permitting child abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor. The jury acquitted her of first-degree battery.

While Kirby-Snow’s request for post-conviction relief appears on the surface not to have been filed in a timely manner, the lawyer representing her during her Baxter County Circuit Court trial, Ben Gibson of Yellville, has accepted responsibility for the late filing.

Acting as her own attorney, Kirby-Snow did file notice she would be seeking some type of post conviction relief in late February last year. According to court records, the case was basically dormant for a time except for occasional motions or notices submitted by Kirby-Snow.

In addition to the notice of appeal, she filed a petition for reduction of sentence on April 6 last year, a petition asking a new attorney be appointed for her on April 30 this year and a Rule 37 Petition on the same day. The Rule 37 Petition generally alleges ineffective assistance of council.

It appears from court records, the notices and motions Kirby-Snow has filed on her own have all been recorded in her Baxter County case file only.

Kirby-Snow has written she filed motions and notices as her own lawyer because she feared Gibson was not doing so on her behalf. She alleges Gibson did not stay in regular contact with her or her family as requested, and that contacts between lawyer and client had not been frequent enough to ensure her appeal would be filed in a timely manner.

In a motion filed Friday of last week and currently in the office of the Clerk of the Arkansas Supreme Court, Gibson admitted he made a mistake in believing he could contract with Kirby-Snow to represent her only for her circuit court trial. He said he was not familiar with rules requiring him to remain in the case through the appeals process unless allowed to withdraw by the courts.

The Yellville attorney said, based on his erroneous belief, he never filed — nor intended to file – a criminal appeal on Kirby-Snow’s behalf. Gibson asks the court to accept her appeal since the late filing was not Kirby-Snow’s fault.

If Gibson’s motion to allow Kirby-Snow’s appeal to proceed is approved, it will likely be put on the docket of the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Gibson has also asked the court to allow him to withdraw as Kirby-Snow’s attorney, and says he bases his motion to withdraw on “the breakdown of attorney-client relationship,” and because he was not familiar with the criminal appeals process.

Both Kirby-Snow and her husband, 22-year-old Jonathan Snow, were charged in the case. Jonathan Snow was found guilty in mid-October of 2017 of first-degree battery and endangering the welfare of a minor and given 41 years in prison. On appeal, the more serious battery charge was thrown out, leaving only the conviction of endangering the welfare of a minor standing.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals handed down the 4-to-2 decision in mid-December last year.

In ruling on Jonathan Snow’s appeal, the majority of the Appeals Court judges said, based on evidence presented at trial, it appeared just as likely Alyssia Kirby-Snow, rather than her husband, was responsible for the injuries to the baby. The couple had told investigators they were the only two people who cared for the little boy, whose name is Alyas.

The attorney representing Jonathan Snow during the appeals process, Gary Potts of Monticello, wrote there was a lack of evidence as to who was actually responsible for the baby’s injuries, forcing the jury to rely on speculation and conjecture in deciding his client alone committed the crimes for which he was eventually convicted.

The state contended sufficient evidence had been presented at Jonathan Snow’s trial to make it unnecessary for the jurors to rely on guesswork to reach their decision.

The state asked the Appeals Court to reconsider its ruling, but the request was turned down. Lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office representing the state went to the Arkansas Supreme Court asking for a review of the case in an attempt to have Jonathan Snow’s more serious first-degree battery conviction upheld.

However, the state’s highest court refused the request for review, leaving the decision of the Appeals Court to stand. The court’s action left Jonathan Snow with only a six-year prison sentence,instead of the original 41. Recently, his parole plan was approved, paving the way for his release. As of Monday, he was still an inmate at the Delta Regional Unit of the state prison system. Alyssia Kirby-Snow is an inmate in the Wrightsville Women’s Facility.

In motions and notices Kirby-Snow filed — acting as her own attorney — she argues since her husband’s battery charge was overturned, her charges of permitting child abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor “are no longer applicable” and should be dismissed.

The charges against the Snows resulted from an investigation launched in early 2016 after the Mountain Home Police Department received a report from Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. In the report, ACH medical staff said it was believed Alyas Snow had been the victim of serious abuse.

Doctors testified at both Jonathan and Alyssia Kirby-Snow’s trials the baby will have lifetime handicaps due to the extensive injuries he received.

At the time of the baby’s birth in late January 2016, the couple lived together in an apartment complex along State Highway 201 North. They were married in October 2016.

WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI