Justia Arkansas Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

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The Supreme Court of Arkansas reviewed an appeal from Lemuel Whiteside, who was challenging the denial of his petition for postconviction relief under Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1. Whiteside was previously convicted of capital felony murder, aggravated robbery, and a firearm enhancement, receiving respective sentences of life, thirty-five years, and fifteen years. He argues that his constitutional rights were violated and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.Whiteside claimed that his Eighth Amendment rights were violated due to the jury's consideration of a life-sentence option on the aggravated-robbery charge. However, the court noted that this argument could have been raised during his direct appeal and, as such, was ineligible for consideration in a Rule 37 proceeding.Whiteside further claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, alleging that his attorneys failed to preserve his Eighth Amendment claim and failed to offer the testimony of a co-defendant as mitigating evidence. The court rejected these allegations, noting that failure to make a meritless argument is not deficient performance and that the decision to call a witness is typically a matter of trial strategy.Whiteside also argued that his counsel failed to investigate or offer evidence regarding his mental state and history of psychiatric treatment for mitigation purposes. The court upheld the trial counsel's strategic decision not to introduce this evidence due to the potentially damaging counter-evidence the state could have presented. The court affirmed the denial of postconviction relief, rejecting Whiteside's claims. View "WHITESIDE v. STATE OF ARKANSAS" on Justia Law

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The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed and remanded a decision of the Phillips County Circuit Court, which had found in favor of Kit and Jole Wilson in their dispute with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (ADFA). The Wilsons had restored a building in Arkansas and were granted a historic-rehabilitation income-tax credit. The ADFA applied this credit to the Wilsons' 2015 tax return before apportionment, reducing their tax liability. The Wilsons protested, asserting that their tax liability should have been zero after applying the credit. The circuit court ruled in the Wilsons' favor, determining that the ADFA must apply the credit after apportioning the Wilsons’ tax due and that certain state codes conflicted with each other.However, the Supreme Court found that the ADFA correctly applied the tax credit before apportionment, in line with state law. The court also held that the state codes did not conflict with each other. The court concluded that the circuit court erred in its statutory interpretation and reversed its decision. View "STATE OF ARKANSAS, DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINiSTRATION v. WILSON" on Justia Law

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Fred and Sandra Monaco took legal action against the Faulkner County Assessor and the Faulkner County Tax Collector concerning the 2021 assessment of their property. Sandra Monaco had purchased a parcel of timberland in 2005 and later built a home on it. The property was assessed as agricultural without a building until 2020 when the Assessor's office discovered the improvement and reassessed the property's value. In July 2021, Sandra deeded the property to herself and her husband, Fred, and subsequently filed a form asserting a homestead right on the property and her right to an assessment freeze under amendment 79 of the Arkansas Constitution. Following the Board's upholding of the Assessor's valuation and assessment, Fred filed a petition for writ of mandamus in circuit court, which was denied.The Supreme Court of Arkansas upheld the circuit court's decision on several grounds. Firstly, Fred's attempt to represent Sandra's interests was deemed unauthorized practice of law, rendering the petition null with respect to Sandra's claims. Secondly, Fred could not claim a writ of mandamus as there were other remedies available to him such as appealing the Board's decision. The court found that a writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy only issued to enforce an established right or the performance of a duty, and it requires the petitioner to show a clear and certain right to the relief sought and the absence of any other remedy. In this case, Fred failed to meet these requirements. View "MONACO v. LEWIS" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the verdict of the Ashley County Circuit Court convicting Robert J. Williams, Jr. of capital murder and aggravated assault and sentencing him to life imprisonment without parole and a term of twenty-eight months’ imprisonment, respectively. Williams appealed on three grounds: the circuit court's granting of the State's motion for continuance; violation of his speedy-trial rights; and the circuit court's denial of his Batson challenge during voir dire.The Supreme Court found no error in the circuit court's decisions. It held that the State had shown due diligence in procuring unavailable witnesses and that the affidavit filed by the State complied with the requirements set forth by law. It also held that Williams was brought to trial within the twelve-month period required by law, as periods of delay were properly excluded from the calculation. Finally, it held that the circuit court properly allowed the State to strike a juror during voir dire and that its decision to deny the Batson claim was not clearly against the preponderance of the evidence.The Supreme Court reviewed all objections, motions, and requests made by either party that were decided adversely to Williams, and found no prejudicial error. Therefore, the circuit court's decision was affirmed. View "WILLIAMS v. STATE OF ARKANSAS" on Justia Law

Posted in: Criminal Law
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In this case, the appellant, William Nelson, appealed his conviction of first-degree domestic battery by a Lonoke County jury in the Supreme Court of Arkansas. He raised seven points on appeal: (1) substantial evidence did not support his conviction; (2) the circuit court’s refusal to recuse was an abuse of discretion; (3) the circuit court improperly denied his Batson objection; (4) the circuit court abused its discretion by limiting questions regarding sentencing during voir dire; (5) the circuit court allowed inadmissible prior-bad-acts evidence to be introduced; (6) refusal to dismiss a juror for-cause during trial was an abuse of discretion; and (7) the circuit court improperly restricted expert witness testimony or, alternatively, erred by denying a motion for a continuance to obtain a new expert. The State cross-appealed, arguing that the circuit court misinterpreted the statutory requirement to support a sentencing enhancement and improperly granted Nelson’s directed-verdict motion on the issue.The court affirmed Nelson's conviction on all points. It found that substantial evidence supported the conviction and the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in any of the contested decisions. In the cross-appeal, the court dismissed the State's appeal, ruling that it did not present an issue of interpretation of the criminal rules with widespread ramifications and the resolution of the issue turned on the facts unique to the case. View "NELSON v. STATE OF ARKANSAS" on Justia Law

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In the case, Royce Calkins appealed a Stone County Circuit Court order that convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced him to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment, plus a fifteen-year sentencing enhancement to each term for using a firearm. Calkins had shot and killed his girlfriend and father in a shared home. The Supreme Court of Arkansas confirmed the conviction and sentence on appeal.Calkins argued two points on appeal. First, he challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his first-degree-murder convictions, and second, he argued that the circuit court abused its discretion by denying his proffered jury instructions on justification and kidnapping.Regarding the first point, Calkins argued that there was no proof that he intended to kill anyone. The court, however, found substantial evidence supporting both counts of first-degree murder. The court considered the fact that Calkins shot each victim multiple times, attempted to stage the scene to make it look like a murder-suicide, and fled the scene as evidence supporting his purposeful intent.Regarding the second point, Calkins argued that the circuit court erred in refusing to provide jury instructions on justification and kidnapping. The court found no abuse of discretion in the circuit court's refusal to instruct the jury on these issues, as there was no rational basis in the evidence for such instructions. The court noted that Calkins's statements to a physician about his fear of being hurt by the victims did not constitute evidence of a reasonable belief that he was in imminent danger, nor was there evidence to support the claim of kidnapping. Therefore, the Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the circuit court's decision. View "ROYCE CALKINS v. STATE OF ARKANSAS" on Justia Law

Posted in: Criminal Law
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In 1980, Thernell Hundley was convicted of capital murder and rape, and received a life sentence without parole. In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders were unconstitutional, and Hundley's life sentence for capital murder was vacated. However, during his incarceration, Hundley had committed four additional felonies. As a result, the Jefferson County Circuit Court in Arkansas ruled that Hundley was ineligible for parole based on Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-93-607(c)(5), which states that inmates classified as fourth offenders are not eligible for parole.Hundley appealed this decision, arguing that his rape conviction should be vacated as it was merged with the capital murder charge, that he should be eligible for parole under the Fair Sentencing of Minors Act, and that his parole eligibility should be determined by the law in effect when he committed his first crimes in 1979. He also challenged the inclusion of his two Class D felony convictions in determining his parole eligibility.The Supreme Court of Arkansas upheld the circuit court's decision. The court ruled that Hundley's separate conviction for rape was not illegal and could not be vacated. The court further held that Hundley's parole eligibility was correctly determined based on the law in effect at the time he committed his last two felonies in 1988 and 1989, not the law at the time of his original crimes. The court also clarified that Hundley's parole ineligibility was based on his convictions for capital murder, rape, attempted first-degree murder and first-degree battery, not his two Class D felonies. View "Hundley v. Payne" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court of Arkansas upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Ricky Lewis Neal, a blind man who was sentenced as a violent-felony habitual offender to life imprisonment. The case arose from the death of Neal’s fiancée, Alice Cawley. Neal had expressed dissatisfaction with his appointed counsel multiple times and sought to represent himself before trial. He also objected to the admission of hearsay evidence in the form of a lost voicemail from the victim saying that Neal was trying to kill her. The court ruled that Neal did not unequivocally invoke his right to self-representation, as his statements indicated that he was simply dissatisfied with his counsel and wanted new counsel, rather than wanting to waive his right to counsel. Regarding the hearsay evidence, the court found that the victim’s statement expressing fear of Neal fell within the hearsay exception for a declarant's then-existing state of mind, emotion, or sensation in Rule 803(3) of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence. Therefore, the court affirmed the conviction and sentence. View "Neal v. State" on Justia Law

Posted in: Criminal Law
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In the Supreme Court of Arkansas, the defendant, Kevonce Ephriam, was appealing his conviction for capital murder. Ephriam was convicted for the death of his three-month-old son, whom he had custody of at the time of the incident. The child sustained numerous injuries, including bruises to his head, forehead, face, neck, and tongue; abrasions to his nose and neck; a torn frenulum; fractured ribs and vertebrae; and hemorrhaging in the soft tissue along his spinal column and on his neck, abdomen, and chest. Ephriam attempted to explain some of the injuries as accidents or results of his attempts to perform CPR, but his explanations were refuted by medical experts.Ephriam argued that the State did not present sufficient evidence for capital murder and that his son's death could have been accidental. He also argued that the jury had to resort to speculation and conjecture to determine that he knowingly caused his son’s death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.The court affirmed the conviction, finding that substantial evidence supported the capital-murder conviction. The court reasoned that the defendant admitted to threatening to harm the child and the mother, and his explanations for the child's injuries were refuted by medical experts, which led the jury to reasonably conclude that the injuries were not accidental but were inflicted by the defendant. The court also stated that there was no dispute that the child was under fourteen and that Ephriam was over eighteen at the time of the murder, fulfilling the age criteria for capital murder under Arkansas law. View "Ephriam v. State" on Justia Law

Posted in: Criminal Law
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In this case, the Supreme Court of Arkansas was hearing an appeal regarding the distribution of the estate of John Haverstick Sr., specifically an annuity that he had purchased. The appellants were John Sr.'s sons, John Jr. and Jerry, and the appellee was John Sr.'s surviving widow, Frances. The sons argued that the lower court erred in finding that John Sr.’s will had changed the beneficiaries of the annuity, citing three reasons: (1) the will did not claim to change the beneficiaries; (2) even if the will claimed to change the beneficiaries, it was ineffective because it did not comply with the contractual procedure for making changes; and (3) under Act 925 of 2021, attempts to change annuity beneficiaries by will are ineffective.The Supreme Court of Arkansas ultimately decided to affirm the lower court's ruling. The court held that John Sr.’s will did change the annuity's beneficiaries because it sufficiently identified the annuity policy and expressed an intent to change how the proceeds would be distributed upon his death. The court rejected the argument that the will was ineffective because it did not comply with the contractual procedure for making changes, noting that the policy of allowing a testator to modify a beneficiary designation to life insurance policies also applies to the will in this case. Finally, the court found that Act 925 of 2021 does not apply retroactively, and thus it did not render the changes in the will ineffective. View "Haverstick v. Haverstick" on Justia Law

Posted in: Trusts & Estates