James v. Pulaski County Circuit Court Fifth Div. (Majority)
Annotate this CaseWilliam James, an attorney, represented Joshua Hastings in a manslaughter trial. During the trial, the presiding judge found James of ten contempt violations. The trial ended in a mistrial. James subsequently filed a motion to vacate the contempt findings, which was denied. The Supreme Court reversed and dismissed nine of the ten citations, each of which was rendered at the close of trial after the circuit court had declared a mistrial, holding (1) the circuit court denied James notice and a reasonable time to make his defense in violation of Arkansas law; and (2) substantial evidence did not support the circuit court’s finding of contempt.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.