Arkansas Supreme Court Decisions 2015
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 488
Docket Number: CR-11-494
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of aggravated robbery and misdemeanor theft of property. In a separate case, Petitioner was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, filing a false report…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 484
Docket Number: CR-14-1030
Justia Opinion Summary: When he was fifteen years old, Z.L. was charged as an adult of rape. An Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction (EJJ) adjudication order was entered, and Z.L. was committed to the Arkansas Division of Youth Services (DYS). When…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 477
Docket Number: CR-14-286
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled guilty to one count of sexual assault in the first degree and was sentenced to thirty years’ imprisonment. Appellant later filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1,…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 479
Docket Number: CR-15-12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of aggravated robbery, theft of property, and possession of a defaced firearm. Appellant was charged as a habitual offender, and each conviction was enhanced by five years…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 485
Docket Number: CR-15-291
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a conditional plea of guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated, sixth offense. Appellant appealed, arguing that his conviction violated the ex post facto clauses of the Arkansas Constitution and…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 489
Docket Number: CR-15-811
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1990, Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1993, Appellant filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 36.4. The trial court dismissed the…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 482
Docket Number: CV-15-118
Justia Opinion Summary: Kenyghatta Davis brought a class action complaint against the City of Blytheville and its Water Department, arguing that the Water Department’s charging of late fees on overdue accounts was an ultra vires act because…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 486
Docket Number: CV-15-249
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Appellant was convicted of rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant later filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the sentence imposed was illegal because he was sentenced as a…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 490
Docket Number: CV-15-573
Justia Opinion Summary: At a third trial Appellant was found guilty of aggravated robbery and sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant later filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus, alleging that trial counsel was ineffective, that…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 491
Docket Number: CV-15-740
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of two counts of delivery of a controlled substance. Appellant was sentenced as a habitual offender to an aggregate term of 360 months in prison. Appellant later filed a pro…
Date: December 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 487
Docket Number: CV-15-961
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 470
Docket Number: CR-09-549
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of multiple drug-related offenses and sentenced to 115 years’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. Now before the Supreme Court was Petitioner’s pro se petition to…
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 466
Docket Number: CR-15-192
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of forgery in the first degree and sentenced to 480 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed and remanded to correct the sentencing order to reflect that…
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 471
Docket Number: CR-15-648
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Appellant subsequently filed two pro se motions in the trial court to dismiss counsel and to suppress a…
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 469
Docket Number: CR-15-948
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 468
Docket Number: CR-15-948
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 460
Docket Number: CV-15-111
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellees’ property was insured under a Mobile Homeowners Insurance Policy issued by Appellant. The policy provided that, in the event of a covered loss, Appellant would pay Appellees the “actual cash value” of the…
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 462
Docket Number: CV-15-278
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a construction company, filed this suit after the Arkansas State Claims Commission (ASCC) denied a claim by Plaintiff related to a contract Plaintiff had entered into with the Arkansas State Highway Commission…
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 467
Docket Number: CV-15-339
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of 720 months’ imprisonment. Appellant later filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus claiming…
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 472
Docket Number: CV-15-397
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner tendered for filing in the circuit court a pro se petition for leave to proceed in forma pauperis with respect to a petition for writ of mandamus and a proposed order granting leave to proceed in forma…
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 465
Docket Number: CV-15-567
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed both Appellant’s conviction and an order denying him postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.…
Date: December 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 474
Docket Number: CV-15-988
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs in this case were three female same-sex married couples and their children. One spouse in each married couple gave birth to a child, but the Arkansas Department of Health declined to issue a birth certificate…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 456
Docket Number: CR-13-415
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 447
Docket Number: CR-15-256
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of manslaughter and third-degree battery. The court of appeals affirmed. Appellant subsequently filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P.…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 438
Docket Number: CR-15-287
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Appellant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The Supreme Court reversed and dismissed Appellant’s conviction for capital murder, holding that the…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 441
Docket Number: CR-15-381
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of two counts of capital murder. Appellant also pled guilty to one count of possessing a controlled substance. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 448
Docket Number: CR-15-462
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered guilty plea to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Appellant was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment. Appellant subsequently filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 450
Docket Number: CR-15-530
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 451
Docket Number: CR-15-880
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 452
Docket Number: CR-15-916
Justia Opinion Summary: The circuit court revoked Appellant’s suspended imposition of sentences. The Court of Appeals dismissed Appellant’s appeal, concluding that the notice of appeals was ineffective to confer appellate jurisdiction because…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 455
Docket Number: CR-91-245
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of rape and sentenced as a habitual offender to 300 years’ imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Thereafter, Petitioner filed a pro se petition for postconviction…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 442
Docket Number: CV-14-1018
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was a signatory to a family settlement agreement concerning a will that was subsequently approved by the circuit court. The agreement distributed a portion of the assets of the decedent’s estates to the estate…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 444
Docket Number: CV-14-869
Justia Opinion Summary: Ashley Hartness entered into an oral agreement with Restoration Plus, which was owned by Rick Nuckles, for the restoration of his 1968 Pontiac Firebird. Dissatisfied with the restoration, Hartness filed suit against…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 449
Docket Number: CV-15-247
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of one count of rape, one count of incest, four counts of sexual abuse, and thirteen counts of sexual assault. The court of appeals affirmed. While incarcerated, Appellant…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 453
Docket Number: CV-15-842
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellees brought this suit against the City of Little Rock for just compensation for the taking of Appellees’ property in connection with a modification of the I430/I630 Interchange. After a jury trial, the circuit…
Date: December 3, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 454
Docket Number: CV-15-944
Date: November 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 435
Docket Number: CR-13-514
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted for the rape of his minor stepdaughter and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed the petition. Thereafter, Appellant filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant…
Date: November 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 431
Docket Number: CR-14-555
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of four counts of computer exploitation of a child in the first degree in violation of Ark. Code Ann. 5-27-605(a) and of twenty counts of distributing, possessing, or…
Date: November 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 436
Docket Number: CR-15-246
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, an inmate, filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. The circuit court denied the petition for lack of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded on the basis…
Date: November 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 432
Docket Number: CR-15-330
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to thirty counts of distributing, possessing, or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, first offense. Defendant effectively received a sixty-year sentence in the…
Date: November 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 433
Docket Number: CV-15-194
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, the City of Siloam Springs filed a second amended complaint for condemnation of land and order of immediate possession of property owned by Appellees. The complaint alleged that the amount of $13,950 would be…
Date: November 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 428
Docket Number: CV-15-243
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellees in this case were hourly, non-nursing employees of Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs d/b/a Arkansas Veterans Home and Fayetteville Veterans Home (ADVA). Appellees sought class certification alleging that…
Date: November 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 426
Docket Number: CV-15-285
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, Floyd Gray, filed a complaint for injunctive relief and declaratory judgment seeking to challenge the eligibility of Appellee, Mary Thomas-Barnes, as a candidate in the mayoral election in Dermott, Arkansas.…
Date: November 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 423
Docket Number: CR-02-1289
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of two counts of rape. Petitioner was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Petitioner later filed in the Supreme Court a pro se petition to reinvest…
Date: November 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 421
Docket Number: CR-15-266
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was convicted of negligent homicide and inadequate insurance during an accident and sentenced to six months in the county jail. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and dismissed…
Date: November 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 424
Docket Number: CR-15-647
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a plea of guilty to aggravated robbery and theft of property. Appellant subsequently filed a pro se petition for reduction of his sentence pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. 16-90-111. Approximately one year…
Date: November 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 425
Docket Number: CR-15-719
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner entered a negotiated plea of guilty to charges in two criminal cases. Five years later, Petitioner filed an amended petition for writ of error coram nobis in the circuit court seeking to amend a previously…
Date: November 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 422
Docket Number: CV-15-177
Justia Opinion Summary: On December 2, 2010, Plaintiff, the husband of the decedent in this case, filed a medical-malpractice action against Defendants as attorney-in-fact for the decedent. The case was removed to federal court and then…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 419
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 417
Docket Number: CR-13-1006
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted on three counts of aggravated robbery and one count of theft of property. Petitioner was sentenced to an aggregate term of three consecutive life sentences plus 360 months’ imprisonment. Here,…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 405
Docket Number: CR-14-580
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated residential burglary, attempted kidnapping, first-degree battery, and aggravated assault. Appellant was sentenced to two terms of life…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 409
Docket Number: CR-15-268
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Thereafter, Appellant filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 414
Docket Number: CR-15-68
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 406
Docket Number: CR-15-80
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of residential burglary and rape. Appellant appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred in excluding evidence of DNA from semen samples found on the victim’s bedsheet and…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 415
Docket Number: CR-15-817
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of one count of rape and four counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. The convictions were affirmed on appeal. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 410
Docket Number: CV-15-220
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 480 months’ imprisonment. Appellant later filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus. The circuit court denied the petition. Appellant…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 411
Docket Number: CV-15-228
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of rape, residential burglary, and third-degree domestic battery. Appellant later filed this petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the judgment reflecting his criminal convictions,…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 412
Docket Number: CV-15-360
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a prisoner, filed a petition for declaratory judgment and for writ of mandamus seeking to have the circuit court declare Ark. Code Ann. 16-93-609 unconstitutional, declare his commitment invalid, and order the…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 402
Docket Number: CV-15-395
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Parents’ three children, including M.A.E., were adjudicated dependent-neglected due to environmental neglect. Appellants, the children’s maternal grandparents, intervened in the matter and filed a motion for…
Date: November 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 413
Docket Number: CV-15-498
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 397
Docket Number: CR-08-1385
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. Now before the Supreme Court was Petitioner’s pro se petition to reinvest…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 394
Docket Number: CR-14-687
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 480 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. Thereafter, Appellant filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 387
Docket Number: CR-15-174
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. For his sole point on appeal, Appellant argued that the circuit court erred in denying…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 398
Docket Number: CR-15-439
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, Appellant, Duane Gonder, entered a plea of guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and furnishing prohibited articles. In 2014, Peggy Gonder, Appellant’s mother, filed a pro se petition for writ of…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 399
Docket Number: CR-15-688
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, an inmate, filed a pro se petition for writ of mandamus or certiorari, arguing that the circuit court judge erred in entering an order that denied Petitioner’s pro se petitions for postconviction relief and…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 400
Docket Number: CR-15-689
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Petitioner filed a motion in the circuit court in three cases seeking to have the court compel the circuit clerk to file documents Petitioner had tendered in the proceedings. The motion apparently challenged…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 395
Docket Number: CR-15-95
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 389
Docket Number: CV-14-1059
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and Father divorced in 2004. The circuit court approved the parties’ child-custody arrangement, and the parties were awarded joint custody of their minor children. In 2013, Father filed a petition to modify…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 392
Docket Number: CV-15-224
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, the Arkansas State Board of Education (State Board) classified six schools within the Little Rock School District as being in academic distress. In 2015, the State Board voted to immediately remove all members…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 388
Docket Number: CV-15-27
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department issued a bid invitation for a janitorial and cleaning-services contract. O.J.’s Service Two, Inc. submitted a bid for the contract. The Highway…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 401
Docket Number: CV-15-586
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Appellant pleaded guilty to forty counts of rape, twenty counts of possession of child pornography, and one count of failure to appear. In 2015, Appellant filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus,…
Date: October 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 396
Docket Number: CV-15-804
Date: October 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 385
Date: October 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 376
Docket Number: CR-15-189
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of capital murder, attempted capital murder, and two counts of aggravated robbery. Appellant was sentenced to a total term of life imprisonment without parole plus ten years. The Supreme Court…
Date: October 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 377
Docket Number: CR-15-494
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and a firearm enhancement. Appellant was sentenced to a total of sixty-five years’ imprisonment. On appeal, Appellant…
Date: October 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 381
Docket Number: CR-15-543
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to first-degree battery and first-degree criminal mischief and was sentenced as a habitual offender to an aggregate term of 300 months’ imprisonment. Appellant later filed a…
Date: October 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 379
Docket Number: CV-15-186
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 2000, Appellant was found guilty of rape, third-degree battery, first-degree terroristic threatening, and residential burglary. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape conviction.…
Date: October 20, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 375
Docket Number: CV-15-829
Justia Opinion Summary: In April 2015, nine prisoners (collectively, Respondents) filed an action challenging the constitutionality of Act 1096 of 2015, which set out the mandated state method of executing condemned prisoners. Thereafter, eight…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 368
Docket Number: 60CR-11-4092
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled guilty to four counts of aggravated robbery and theft of property and was sentenced to an aggregate term of 480 months’ imprisonment. Appellant later filed an untimely petition for postconviction relief…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 372
Docket Number: CR-05-1170
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 2005, Petitioner was found guilty of aggravated robbery. Petitioner was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. In 2014, Petitioner filed in the Supreme Court a pro se…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 373
Docket Number: CR-09-1213
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of aggravated robbery and kidnapping. Petitioner was sentenced to an aggregate term of 360 months’ imprisonment. Now before the Supreme Court was Petitioner’s pro se…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 364
Docket Number: CR-15-124
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of the introduction of a controlled substance into the body of her newborn baby. The court of appeals affirmed. At issue on appeal was whether Defendant could be convicted of…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 363
Docket Number: CR-15-153
Justia Opinion Summary: After a second trial, Defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree battery, and aggravated assault. The court of appeals affirmed the convictions and sentences. Defendant subsequently filed a timely…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 369
Docket Number: CR-15-25
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1983, Appellant was found guilty of three counts of rape and three counts of burglary. In 2014, Appellant filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to Act 1780 of 2001, alleging (1)…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 359
Docket Number: CR-15-273
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of capital murder. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Appellant appealed, arguing for his sole point on appeal that the circuit…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 370
Docket Number: CR-15-367
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. The Supreme Court affirmed in 1997. In 2010, Appellant filed in the trial court a petition for recall and for…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 371
Docket Number: CR-93-1127
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of murder in the first degree. Petitioner was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Petitioner later filed in the Supreme Court a pro se petition to…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 360
Docket Number: CV-14-848
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, the Town of Lead Hill, Arkansas and Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority entered into a Wholesale Water Purchase Contract with a forty-year term for Ozark to provide potable water to Lead Hill. In…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 367
Docket Number: CV-14-986
Justia Opinion Summary: Bank of the Ozarks was designated as the successor trustee of the Hamilton Family Living Trust. The Trust’s primary beneficiaries were Larry Hamilton and Susan Cossey. The Bank had possession of the Trust’s assets…
Date: October 8, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 356
Docket Number: CV-15-156
Justia Opinion Summary: The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a petition for termination of Father’s parental rights to his son. Father had been incarcerated for most of the nine-year-old child’s life. After a termination…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 349
Docket Numbers: CR-03-713, CR-03-713
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of murder in the first degree. Petitioner was sentenced as a habitual offender to 480 months’ imprisonment. Petitioner filed in the Supreme Court a pro se petition to…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 344
Docket Number: CR-13-775
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of capital murder and criminal attempt to commit capital murder and sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment without parole and life imprisonment, respectively. Defendant appealed.…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 341
Docket Number: CR-14-1019
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of sexual assault in the first degree and sexual assault in the second degree. Appellant was sentenced to concurrent terms of forty and thirty years imprisonment. The…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 350
Docket Number: CR-14-640
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of aggravated robbery, residential burglary, and third-degree battery and was sentenced to an aggregate term of 540 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. Appellant filed a timely…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 340
Docket Number: CR-14-818
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment with a concurrent ten-year enhancement for committing the murder in the presence of a child. The Supreme Court affirmed,…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 345
Docket Number: CR-15-165
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of rape. The trial court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment. Defendant’s sole point on appeal was that the trial court erred by denying his motion for a…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 351
Docket Number: CR-15-175
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a plea of guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and furnishing prohibited articles. Appellant was sentenced to an aggregate term of 552 months’ imprisonment. Appellant later filed a pro se…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 339
Docket Number: CR-15-22
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of aggravated robbery, theft of property, first-degree battery, and committing a terroristic act in connection with a drug buy. Appellant was sentenced to a total of…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 352
Docket Number: CR-15-538
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner entered negotiated pleas in four separate cases to possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated robbery, and theft of property. Petitioner also entered a plea directly to the court to a charge of residential…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 353
Docket Number: CR-15-605
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996, Petitioner entered a plea of guilty to multiple felony offenses. The circuit court imposed an aggregate sentence of 720 months’ imprisonment. In 2014, Petitioner filed a pro se “Petition for Declaratory Judgment…
Date: October 1, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 354
Docket Number: CV-15-397
Date: September 24, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 333
Docket Number: CR-02-161
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 480 months’ imprisonment. The Court of Appeals reversed the original judgment. Petitioner was subsequently convicted of murder in the first degree and…
Date: September 24, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 334
Docket Number: CR-12-623
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Petitioner was convicted of two counts of rape and one count of sexual indecency with a minor. The Supreme Court affirmed. Petitioner filed a pro se petition and supplemental petition to reinvest jurisdiction in…
Date: September 24, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 335
Docket Number: CR-13-614
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of commercial burglary and criminal mischief in the first degree. Appellant subsequently filed a timely petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1,…
Date: September 24, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 331
Docket Number: CR-14-992
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the circuit court did not err in denying Defendant’s motions for directed…
Date: September 24, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 332
Docket Number: CR-15-189
Date: September 24, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 336
Docket Number: CR-15-40
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered guilty pleas to aggravated robbery, theft of property, and residential burglary. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1, alleging that he received…
Date: September 24, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 337
Docket Number: CR-15-518
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Petitioner was convicted of drug charges. After the conviction was affirmed on appeal, Petitioner filed a petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. The trial court dismissed the…
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 329
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 323
Docket Number: CR-03-1181
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 2003, Petitioner was found guilty of capital murder and battery in the first degree. In 2015, Petitioner filed his fourth petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court so that he could…
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 324
Docket Number: CR-12-423
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of two counts of rape for the sexual assault of his stepdaughter. The court of appeals affirmed. Thereafter, Defendant filed an untimely petition for postconviction relief…
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 316
Docket Number: CR-14-1088
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. Defendant was sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment on the murder charge. Defendant appealed, arguing that the…
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 318
Docket Number: CR-14-833
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of capital murder for strangling his prison cellmate to death. Defendant was sentenced to death for the murder. Defendant appealed, raising three claims. The only issue…
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 319
Docket Number: CR-15-22
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 325
Docket Number: CR-15-237
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of the rape of an eleven-year-old girl and sentenced to life imprisonment. Thereafter, Appellant retained counsel, and counsel filed a verified petition pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1, arguing…
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 326
Docket Number: CR-15-282
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 328
Docket Number: CR-15-549
Justia Opinion Summary: In three separate cases, Defendant pled guilty or nolo contendere to third-degree domestic battering, third-degree domestic battering (second offense), and first-degree domestic battering. Defendant later filed a pro se…
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 320
Docket Number: CR-15-608
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 317
Docket Number: CR-15-95
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1993, Appellant was convicted of five counts of rape, but his convictions were reversed and remanded. In 1995, Appellant entered guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of first-degree…
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 330
Docket Number: CV-14-987
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 321
Docket Number: CV-15-677
Date: September 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 322
Docket Number: D-15-703
Date: September 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 314
Docket Number: CR-07-906
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of attempted capital felony murder and was sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment. Now before the Supreme Court was Defendant’s pro se petition to reinvest…
Date: September 10, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 315
Docket Number: CR-15-490
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 309
Docket Number: CR-03-905
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002, after a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of the rape of a child less than fourteen years of age and two counts of sexual assault in the first degree. In 2014, Petitioner filed a pro se petition to…
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 310
Docket Number: CR-09-9
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Appellant was found guilty of rape and sentenced as a habitual offender to 600 months’ imprisonment. Appellant later filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P.…
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 302
Docket Number: CR-14-804
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of the rape of his daughter. The court of appeals affirmed. Defendant subsequently filed a petition and amended petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim.…
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 305
Docket Number: CR-15-522
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 306
Docket Number: CR-15-553
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 303
Docket Number: CV-14-1054
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, an inmate, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, asserting that the trial court lost jurisdiction when Appellant’s attorney admitted to what Appellant characterized as a conflict of interest and that his…
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 304
Docket Number: CV-14-1102
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of two counts of first-degree sexual assault on a guilty plea. Appellant was sentenced to concurrent terms of 240 months’ imprisonment with an aggregate sentence of forty years’ imprisonment.…
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 312
Docket Number: CV-15-344
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Appellant entered guilty pleas to multiple felony offenses. In 2014, Appellant filed a petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus, making numerous allegations. The circuit court dismissed the petition. Before the…
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 313
Docket Number: CV-15-385
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus alleging that the judgment in his criminal case was invalid on its face. The circuit court denied the petition. Petitioner filed a timely notice of appeal.…
Date: July 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 308
Docket Number: CV-15-556
Date: June 25, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 296
Date: June 25, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 286
Docket Number: CR-15-3
Justia Opinion Summary: Game wardens conducted an investigation into Appellant’s compliance with hunting laws. After the investigation was completed, the officers began a criminal investigation seeking information to determine whether Appellant…
Date: June 25, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 284
Docket Number: CR-15-57
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Tracey Mills and David Smith. Appellant was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit…
Date: June 25, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 292
Docket Number: CR-80-40
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1979, Petitioner was found guilty of felony murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Now before the Supreme Court was Petitioner’s second petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the…
Date: June 25, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 285
Docket Number: CV-14-1056
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs-taxpayers were indebted to the state for delinquent tax debts. The Department of Finance & Administration filed certificates of indebtness against Plaintiffs with respect to the tax delinquencies and assessed…
Date: June 25, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 289
Docket Number: CV-15-126
Justia Opinion Summary: After W.L. was born, Mother and Father consented to Mother’s parents’ exercising a guardianship over W.L. A year after the guardianship’s inception, Father filed a petition to terminate the guardianship. The circuit…
Date: June 25, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 291
Docket Number: CV-15-19
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants and Appellees owned property on two sides of Hurricane Creek. Appellants alleged that Appellees and past owners of the property placed fill material in the floodway and floodplain of Hurricane Creek and that,…
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 282
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 281
Docket Number: CR-11-813
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and committing a terroristic act and was sentenced to an aggregate term of 360 months’ imprisonment. Now before the Supreme Court was Petitioner’s pro se petition to…
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 271
Docket Number: CR-13-438
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted and sentenced for one count each of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, felony theft, and misdemeanor theft. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded…
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 274
Docket Number: CR-14-1132
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of capital murder. Defendant was sentenced to life without parole. Defendant appealed, arguing that the circuit court abused its discretion by declining to give his proffered,…
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 278
Docket Number: CR-14-580
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 275
Docket Number: CV-14-1011
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing assistants who worked for the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) as hourly employees. Plaintiffs brought this action…
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 277
Docket Number: CV-14-1082
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1995, Appellee was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. In 2013, Appellee filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus asserting…
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 268
Docket Number: CV-14-594
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, a car dealership and related individuals, had an oral agreement that Defendant would use, free of charge, an empty bay at the site of its car dealership for its nonprofit and youth-outreach activities.…
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 280
Docket Number: CV-14-987
Date: June 18, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 272
Docket Number: CV-15-18
Justia Opinion Summary: The Arkansas Securities Commissioner filed a civil regulatory action against three individuals (collectively, Appellees), alleging that Appellees engaged in the sale of unregistered securities - in the form of notes for…
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 264
Docket Number: CR-11-160
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted for the rape of his fourteen-year-old daughter and was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Defendant later filed a pro se petition seeking leave to proceed in the…
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 252
Docket Number: CR-14-760
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Appellant was sentenced to a total of 144 months’…
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 258
Docket Number: CR-14-845
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with the first-degree murder of John Davis. The jury found Defendant guilty of the lesser-included offense of second-degree murder. The court of appeals affurned, concluding that substantial…
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 260
Docket Number: CR-15-407
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 263
Docket Number: CR-90-198
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 253
Docket Number: CV-14-1033
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants were twelve nursing-home facilities doing business as Golden Living Centers in cities throughout Arkansas as well as related entities and individuals serving in leadership positions. Appellees, former…
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 255
Docket Number: CV-14-535
Justia Opinion Summary: Weatherford Artificial Lift Systems, Inc. (Weatherford) provided oil-field services that included hydraulic fracturing to the oil-and-gas production industry in the state. The Arkansas Department of Finance and…
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 261
Docket Number: CV-14-585
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 257
Docket Number: CV-14-684
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered into a contract with Contractor for the construction of a new home. At some point after the project had begun, the parties had a disagreement, and Appellant ordered that Contractor cease work on the…
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 267
Docket Number: CV-15-384
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus. The circuit court denied the petition, and no timely appeal was taken. Petitioner in the instant motion sought leave to proceed with a belated appeal,…
Date: June 4, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 266
Docket Number: CV-15-75
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed a petition for judicial review of an administrative decision pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. 25-15-212 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) seeking review of a disciplinary action brought against him by…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 245
Docket Number: CR-14-1060
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of raping a mentally handicapped sixteen-year-old girl. The circuit court sentenced Appellant as a habitual offender to life imprisonment. Appellant appealed, arguing that he…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 250
Docket Number: CR-14-1083
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of murder in the second degree and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Appellant was sentenced as a habitual offender to a term of imprisonment and a fine. The court…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 240
Docket Number: CR-14-529
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of capital murder. Appellant was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Appellant’s argument that the circuit court erred in…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 247
Docket Number: CR-14-577
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled nolo contendere to third-degree domestic battery and was ordered to complete one year of probation pursuant to Act 346 of 1975. Appellant appealed to the circuit court from the order of probation. The…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 248
Docket Number: CR-14-701
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered negotiated guilty pleas to kidnapping, first-degree battery, and other charges. Appellant was sentenced to 336 months’ imprisonment with ten years suspended. Appellant later filed a petition for writ of…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 249
Docket Number: CR-14-929
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, a judgment of conviction was entered against Appellant for two counts of capital murder committed in 1989. The Supreme Court affirmed. Seventy-eight days after the mandate had issued, Appellant filed a pro se…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 236
Docket Number: CR-14-934
Justia Opinion Summary: The State charged Defendant with one count of arson. Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence seized in a warrantless search of Defendant's burned building that was conducted three days after the fire during an…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 241
Docket Number: CV-14-250
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant sued Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company (SFB) for breach of contract. SFB answered, alleging that Appellant’s claims were spurious and were made for an improper purpose. The circuit court granted…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 243
Docket Number: CV-14-618
Justia Opinion Summary: Daimante, LLC was the operator of a golf course that contained two subdivisions. Gary and Linda Dye, property owners within one subdivision, filed a declaratory-judgment complaint seeking a declaration that certain…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 238
Docket Number: CV-14-648
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was the owner of gas, oil, and other minerals situated within the Ozark Highlands Unit (OHU). SEECO, Inc. applied to create a drilling unit in the OHU and to integrate all unleased and uncommitted mineral…
Date: May 28, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 251
Docket Number: CV-15-223
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed a pro se motion to amend a petition for writ of habeas corpus previously filed in the circuit court challenging his conviction and sentence for four counts of rape. The amended petition alleged that the…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 231
Docket Number: CR-00-645
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of four counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of misdemeanor theft of property, and one count of felony theft of property. Petitioner was sentenced as a habitual…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 225
Docket Number: CR-02-213
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of capital murder, residential burglary, attempted capital murder, rape, and aggravated robbery. Petitioner was sentenced to death for the capital murder conviction. The…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 219
Docket Number: CR-08-1386
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 2001, Petitioner was convicted of capital murder, residential burglary, attempted capital murder, rape, and aggravated robbery. Petitioner was sentenced to death for the capital murder conviction.…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 232
Docket Number: CR-11-1282
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 300 months’ imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Now before the Court was Petitioner’s pro se petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the circuit…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 220
Docket Number: CR-13-721
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of two counts of capital murder and two counts of firearm enhancements. Appellant was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 227
Docket Number: CR-14-327
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a conditional plea of no contest to one count of misdemeanor possession of a firearm by certain persons. Appellant appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to dismiss because…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 222
Docket Number: CR-14-865
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, the circuit court found Appellant guilty of driving while intoxicated, second offense, and of violating the implied-consent law. Appellant appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred in denying…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 228
Docket Number: CR-14-879
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a pea of guilty to two counts of rape and was sentenced to serve an aggregate term of 360 months’ imprisonment. Appellant subsequently filed in the trial court a pro se petition for writ of error coram…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 229
Docket Number: CR-14-962
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant and a co-defendant were found guilty of capital murder. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded for separate trials. The co-defendant subsequently pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 234
Docket Number: CR-15-274
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated residential burglary and sentenced to an aggregate sentence of 720 months’ imprisonment. Petitioner filed a timely amended petition for postconviction…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 233
Docket Number: CR-15-76
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree battery and sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Thereafter, Appellant filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 230
Docket Number: CR-99-1102
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed. In 2010, Petitioner filed a pro se petition asking that the Supreme Court reinvest jurisdiction in the…
Date: May 21, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 221
Docket Number: CV-15-349
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 215
Docket Number: CR-00-587
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of residential burglary and rape and sentenced to an aggregate sentence of 900 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. Petitioner later filed in the Supreme…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 216
Docket Number: CR-12-615
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 2012, Defendant was convicted of three counts of rape and one count of attempted rape of a minor. Defendant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1.…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 212
Docket Number: CR-14-407
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of three counts of second-degree sexual assault. The conviction was affirmed on appeal. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1, raising…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 213
Docket Number: CR-14-492
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of kidnapping and rape. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P.…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 203
Docket Number: CR-14-872
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with sexual assault in the fourth degree. Defendant moved to suppress a statement that he had given, asserting that, prior to being interviewed, he had not been advised of his Miranda rights. The…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 209
Docket Number: CR-14-965
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted on multiple counts of theft of property for stealing horses and equipment from a university. Defendant’s conviction was affirmed on appeal. Defendant subsequently filed a pro se petition for…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 214
Docket Number: CV-14-1084
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, an inmate in the Arkansas Department of Correction, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking relief from a judgment convicting him of rape. In his petition, Appellant alleged that his confession was…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 205
Docket Number: CV-14-468
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to the offense of capital murder. Defendant later filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, alleging that he was being unlawfully detained because he was a juvenile at the…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 207
Docket Number: CV-14-470
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of three counts of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Defendant sought habeas-corpus relief, alleging that he was being unlawfully detained because he was a juvenile…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 210
Docket Number: CV-14-488
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was driving her car when she collided with Plaintiff, a pedestrian, in a crosswalk. Plaintiff sued Defendant for negligence. The jury returned a verdict in Plaintiff’s favor. Defendant filed a motion for a new…
Date: May 14, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 217
Docket Number: CV-15-255
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the Supreme Court pertaining to a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus he filed in the circuit court. Petitioner argued that his petition for writ of habeas corpus…
Date: May 7, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 190
Docket Number: CR-00-1384
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of capital murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The Supreme Court affirmed. Now before the Supreme Court was Petitioner’s second pro se petition to…
Date: May 7, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 194
Docket Number: CR-14-1060
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. Thereafter, Appellant, by and through his attorney, filed a motion for rule on clerk seeking to appeal the sentencing order. Appellant failed to file a…
Date: May 7, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 197
Docket Number: CR-14-1077
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of rape and sexual abuse. Appellant was sentenced to an aggregate term of life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. More than nineteen years after he was convicted,…
Date: May 7, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 198
Docket Number: CR-15-148
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of four counts of capital murder and one count of kidnapping. Petitioner subsequently filed a timely pro se petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. The trial court denied…
Date: May 7, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 199
Docket Number: CR-15-246
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. The circuit court denied the petition for lack of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded because the order did not…
Date: May 7, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 195
Docket Number: CR-15-313
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of theft of property and sentenced to eight years imprisonment. Appellant, by and through her attorney, subsequently filed a motion for rule on clerk seeking to appeal the sentencing order.…
Date: May 7, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 189
Docket Number: CV-15-227
Date: May 7, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 189
Docket Number: CV-15-227
Justia Opinion Summary: There were eight justices of the Supreme Court poised to decide the appeal in Smith v. Wright. However, the Arkansas Constitution provides that the Arkansas Supreme Court “shall be composed of seven Justices.” At issue…
Date: April 30, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 188
Docket Number: CR-02-228
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of two counts of rape. Before the Supreme Court was Petitioner’s third petition seeking to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court to consider a petition for writ of error…
Date: April 30, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 185
Docket Number: CR-14-620
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of four counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, possession of a firearm by a felon, two counts of fleeing, and resisting arrest. The court of appeals affirmed. Thereafter,…
Date: April 30, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 183
Docket Number: CR-14-798
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court found Appellant guilty of the offense of driving while intoxicated (DWI). On appeal, the circuit court affirmed, concluding that no culpable mental state was required for the DWI offense and that the…
Date: April 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 182
Docket Number: CR-14-1125
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief challenging a judgment of conviction entered against him. The trial court dismissed the petition. Petitioner filed a notice of appeal, which was not timely…
Date: April 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 181
Docket Number: CR-90-43
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of capital felony murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The Supreme Court affirmed. Petitioner later filed a pro se petition seeking…
Date: April 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 175
Docket Number: CV-14-456
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants received a credit card, and Appellee was the assignee of the credit-card account. When the account went unpaid, Appellee filed a complaint seeking a judgment against Appellants. Appellants were served with…
Date: April 23, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 178
Docket Number: CV-14-788
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, filed a motion to intervene in a class-action suit filed by Appellees, purchasers of surplus-lines insurance. Named as defendants were Arkansas surplus-lines-insurance…
Date: April 16, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 170
Docket Number: CR-01-1015
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 300 months’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed. Petitioner later filed a pro se petition in the Supreme Court seeking leave to proceed in…
Date: April 16, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 165
Docket Number: CR-12-487
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, and unauthorized use of property to facilitate a crime. The court of appeals…
Date: April 16, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 166
Docket Number: CR-12-759
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of first-degree battery. The court of appeals affirmed. Appellant filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to…
Date: April 16, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 167
Docket Number: CR-14-465
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of raping his stepdaughter. The court of appeals affirmed. Petitioner subsequently filed a pro se petition for relief under Ark. R. Crim. P. 37, alleging a number of grounds for relief. The…
Date: April 16, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 172
Docket Number: CR-15-161
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a pro se petition for writ of mandamus alleging that Hon. Sam Pope, circuit judge of the Drew County Circuit Court, failed to timely provide a ruling on Petitioner's pro se petition for postconviction…
Date: April 16, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 173
Docket Number: CR-15-162
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was found guilty in one case of aggravated robbery and misdemeanor theft of property. Petitioner was also found guilty in another case that same year of being a felon in possession of a firearm, filing a false…
Date: April 16, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 174
Docket Number: CV-14-1122
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, an inmate, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus alleging that the parole board denied him due process by failing to apply the statutorily mandated criteria for parole eligibility, failed to properly…
Date: April 16, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 168
Docket Number: CV-14-588
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a plea of nolo contendere to aggravated residential burglary, first-degree domestic battering, and first-degree false imprisonment. Three years later, Appellant filed a pro se petition for writ of…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 159
Docket Number: CR-03-1181
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of capital murder and battery in the first degree. Petitioner was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of life imprisonment without parole. The Supreme Court affirmed.…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 160
Docket Number: CR-10-113
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and resisting arrest. The resisting arrest charge was merged into the possession charge and Petitioner was sentenced, as a…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 144
Docket Number: CR-13-1122
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of capital felony murder and aggravated robbery, with a firearm enhancement on each count. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 161
Docket Number: CR-14-1060
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was found guilty of rape and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Counsel for Petitioner timely filed an appeal from that verdict. The appeal remained pending at the time Petitioner filed this pro se petition…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 152
Docket Number: CR-14-1104
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Appellant appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence seized…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 162
Docket Number: CR-14-1114
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of three counts of rape. Appellant subsequently filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1 alleging that he was not afforded the…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 147
Docket Number: CR-14-49
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a plea of nolo contendere to a single count of sexual assault in the first degree. The circuit court accepted the plea and sentenced Appellant to eight years in prison. Appellant subsequently filed a…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 149
Docket Number: CR-14-508
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled no contest to two misdemeanors and one Class D felony. At the time of his sentencing, the Community Punishment Act (CPA) allowed Appellant to petition the court to expunge the record of his offense upon…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 151
Docket Number: CR-14-857
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to first-degree battery of a law enforcement officer acting in the line of duty and possession of a firearm by certain persons. Appellant later filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis in…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 163
Docket Number: CR-15-35
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Appellant subsequently filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P.…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 141
Docket Number: CR-93-427
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1992, Petitioner entered a plea of guilty to capital-felony murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The Supreme Court dismissed Petitioner’s direct appeal. Thereafter, Petitioner was party to…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 146
Docket Number: CV-12-330
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1979, Appellant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to attempted capital murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant was seventeen when he committed this offense. In 2011, Appellant filed a pro se…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 154
Docket Number: CV-14-1124
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Appellant entered a nolo contendere plea to a charge of rape and a charge of incest. In 2014, Appellant filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the writ should issue on the ground that a…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 148
Docket Number: CV-14-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Two School Districts filed suit against the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) asking for a mandatory injunction requiring the ADE to release all federal and state funds that they were due. The circuit court granted…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 157
Docket Number: CV-14-585
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court appointed a special master to conduct a hearing and to make findings of fact as to whether court reporter Sheila Russell should be held in contempt for failing to comply with a writ of certiorari issued…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 158
Docket Number: CV-14-585
Justia Opinion Summary: In a per curiam order, the Supreme Court found that court reporter Sheila Russell failed to comply with a writ of certiorari issued by the Court for the completion of the record in the above-captioned case. The Court…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 153
Docket Number: CV-14-850
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to two counts of robbery and was sentenced as a habitual offender to consecutive sentences of 300 months’ imprisonment for the first count and 300 months’ suspended…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 143
Docket Number: CV-14-894
Justia Opinion Summary: The Shadow Lake Property Owners Association and the Trustees of a family trust sued the City of Greenwood, claiming that two of the City’s ordinances relating to the annexation of property were derived in violation of…
Date: April 2, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 136
Docket Number: CR-13-384
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of attempted rape and two counts of sexual assault in the second degree. The court of appeals affirmed. Petitioner filed a pro se petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the…
Date: April 2, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 132
Docket Number: CR-14-548
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted as an accomplice to both capital murder and kidnapping. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole on the capital-murder charge. The Supreme Court affirmed,…
Date: April 2, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 134
Docket Number: CR-14-898
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to rape and was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment. Appellant later filed two pro se motions entitled “Motion for a State of Duress.” The trial court denied both motions. The motions consisted…
Date: April 2, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 137
Docket Number: CR-14-906
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The Supreme Court affirmed. Appellant subsequently filed a pro se petition for relief pursuant to…
Date: April 2, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 131
Docket Number: CV-14-816
Justia Opinion Summary: Harold Planchon filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals, but Planchon died before the case was submitted. Planchon’s attorney filed a motion for revivor and substitution or, in the alternative, to remand to the circuit…
Date: April 2, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 139
Docket Number: CV-15-49
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a pro se petition for leave to proceed in forma paupers with respect to a petition for judicial review. Also tendered for filing was Petitioner’s proposed order granting leave to proceed in forma…
Date: April 2, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 140
Docket Number: CV-15-90
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner tendered for filing a pro se petition for leave to proceed in forma paupers with respect to a petition for judicial review. The petition to proceed in forma paupers was denied, but the petition and order were…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 115
Docket Number: CR-11-556
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Appellant pleaded guilty to rape and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P.…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 112
Docket Number: CR-13-389
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to murder in the first degree, aggravated robbery, first-degree escape and other charges stemming from his escape from a detention center after his attack on a correctional…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 123
Docket Number: CR-13-438
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 118
Docket Number: CR-14-136
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. The court of appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 119
Docket Number: CR-14-211
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two sentencing enhancements. Thereafter, Defendant filed a petition seeking postconviction relief, asserting that he had entered the…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 120
Docket Number: CR-14-736
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to multiple felony offenses. Appellant was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment with credit for forty-five days spent in custody before sentencing. More than eight months after the judgment had…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 125
Docket Number: CR-14-760
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 126
Docket Number: CR-82-121
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1982, Petitioner was found guilty of capital felony murder and first-degree battery. Petitioner was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Petitioner subsequently sought leave…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 116
Docket Number: CV-14-542
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellees, all of whom were imprisoned within the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) system and under sentences of death, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, asserting, among other…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 121
Docket Number: CV-14-614
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, Appellant entered pleas of guilty or nolo contendere to six counts of attempted capital murder and one count of arson. In 2014, Appellant filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus, alleging that the…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 122
Docket Number: CV-14-641
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a negotiated plea of nolo contendere to manslaughter, manufacture of a controlled substance, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence. Appellant later filed a pro se petition for writ of…
Date: March 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 110
Docket Number: CV-14-786
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners purchased an insurance policy from Allstate Insurance Company for their rental property. The rental property subsequently suffered fire damage, rendering the home uninhabitable. Petitioners submitted a claim…
Date: March 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 108
Docket Number: CR-05-1381
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of rape, kidnapping, robbery, residential burglary, and third-degree battery. Appellant was sentenced as a habitual offender to an aggregate sentence of 1,320 months’…
Date: March 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 109
Docket Number: CR-14-1091
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of capital murder, misdemeanor unauthorized use of a vehicle, possession of firearms by certain persons, and abuse of a corpse. Petitioner appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence…
Date: March 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 105
Docket Number: CR-14-702
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced as a habitual offender to forty years’ imprisonment. The Supreme Court reduced the sentence to a term of twenty years because one of the prior judgments used to…
Date: March 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 106
Docket Number: CR-14-728
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of commercial burglary, theft of property, and fraud. Appellant was sentenced as a habitual offender to serve an aggregate term of 1,200 months’ imprisonment. Appellant…
Date: March 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 107
Docket Number: CR-14-964
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1995, Appellant pleaded guilty to rape and was sentenced to forty years in prison. In 2014, Appellant filed a pro se petition to correct his sentence pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. 16-90-111. Specifically, Appellant…
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 97
Docket Number: CR-13-514
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Appellant subsequently filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P.…
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 103
Docket Number: CR-14-1125
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed an unverified pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1 challenging the judgment of conviction entered against him in his criminal case. The trial court dismissed the…
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 91
Docket Number: CR-14-580
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated residential burglary, both carrying sentences of life imprisonment. Appellant’s counsel (“Counsel”) filed a motion to withdraw and a…
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 90
Docket Number: CR-14-88
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder as an accomplice and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed. Appellant later filed a petition for postconviction relief under Ark. R.…
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 102
Docket Number: CR-83-94
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1983, Petitioner was found guilty of murder in the first degree and aggravated robbery. Petitioner was sentenced as a habitual offender to an aggregate term of life imprisonment. In 2005, Petitioner…
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 104
Docket Number: CV-14-1123
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 99
Docket Number: CV-14-331
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Appellant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to theft of property and theft by receiving. In 2013, Appellant filed a petition for declaratory judgment contending that the Arkansas Department of Correction …
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 100
Docket Number: CV-14-583
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, judgment was entered reflecting Appellant’s jury convictions for possession of cocaine, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, and possession of a firearm by a felon. Appellant filed a petition for writ…
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 94
Docket Number: CV-14-599
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, the General Assembly passed Act 1413 of 2013, which made numerous changes to the portions of the Arkansas Code pertaining to initiatives and referenda. Plaintiffs subsequently filed a complaint against Mark…
Date: March 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 101
Docket Number: CV-14-709
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1986, a jury found Appellant guilty of burglary, aggravated robbery, and rape. Appellant was sentenced to an aggregate term of life imprisonment and twenty years. The sentence was enhanced for committing aggravated…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 62
Docket Number: CR-00-1322
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. After the Supreme Court twice reversed Petitioner’s sentence, a third jury again sentenced Petitioner to death. The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 85
Docket Number: CR-09-519
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 57
Docket Number: CR-13-359
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1987, Appellant was convicted of rape, aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, and burglary. The convictions were affirmed on appeal, and Appellant’s subsequently filed petitions for postconviction relief were…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 69
Docket Number: CR-13-598
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to one count of rape and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant later filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, alleging that he was insane at the time he entered his guilty plea and…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 65
Docket Number: CR-13-699
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a negotiated plea of no contest to a charge of aggravated residential burglary and negotiated pleas of guilty to aggravated assault and felon in possession of a firearm. The circuit court accepted the…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 72
Docket Number: CR-13-972
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to a single count of rape pursuant to a plea agreement. Appellant was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, the minimum sentence he could have received, plus a suspended imposition of…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 83
Docket Number: CR-14-659
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a plea of guilty to kidnapping and stalking in the first degree and was sentenced to serve an aggregate sentence of 180 months’ imprisonment. Two years later, Appellant filed a motion to withdraw the…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 84
Docket Number: CR-14-715
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Appellant entered a guilty plea to first-degree battery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. In 2014, Appellant filed a pro se “Motion to Enforce Guilty Plea Agreement” alleging that his counsel did not…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 86
Docket Number: CR-14-975
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 60
Docket Number: CR-91-36
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. In Ward I, the Supreme Court affirmed Petitioner’s conviction for capital murder but reversed his death-penalty sentence and remanded for resentencing.…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 61
Docket Number: CR-98-657
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. After the Supreme Court twice reversed Petitioner’s sentence, a third jury again sentenced Petitioner to death. The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 66
Docket Number: CV-14-192
Justia Opinion Summary: Jessica Foust and Maria Montez-Torres lived together as a family unit with Montez-Torres’s two biological children. During the relationship, Montez-Torres had a brief relationship with a man and conceived M.F. Three…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 73
Docket Number: CV-14-193
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a class action complaint against Philip Morris Companies Inc. and Philip Morris Inc., alleging that Philip Morris violated the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (ADTPA) by falsely advertising that…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 78
Docket Number: CV-14-330
Justia Opinion Summary: The circuit court entered a decree of foreclosure giving a suburban improvement district ("HISID") a lien against certain pieces of property for unpaid assessments. Appellant owned one of those properties. The decree…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 75
Docket Number: CV-14-475
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother gave birth to S.H. in 2005. In 2008, Mother consented to a permanent guardianship over S.H. in favor of Father’s parents (Grandparents). Sixteen months later, Mother withdrew her consent and filed a petition to…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 58
Docket Number: CV-14-549
Justia Opinion Summary: Entergy Arkansas, Inc. and Entergy Operations, Inc. (collectively, “Entergy”) entered into an agreement with Siemens Energy, Inc. (“Siemens”) under which Siemens was to provide Entergy with services at three nuclear…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 80
Docket Number: CV-14-559
Justia Opinion Summary: When the Arkansas State Medical Board declined the application of Plaintiff, a breast oncology surgeon, for a permit to dispense legend drugs, Plaintiff sued, arguing that Act 515 of 1983, codified at Ark. Code Ann.…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 70
Docket Number: CV-14-650
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of capital-felony murder in Arkansas and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Appellant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Jefferson County Circuit…
Date: February 26, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 81
Docket Number: CV-14-666
Justia Opinion Summary: The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) amended its licensing requirements to include certain minimum general-liability-insurance coverage for all child-care centers. Plaintiffs, three school districts that…
Date: February 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 56
Docket Number: CR-14-1008
Date: February 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 50
Docket Number: CR-14-578
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated robbery and theft of property. Defendant was sentenced as a habitual offender to a term of life imprisonment. Defendant appealed, arguing that the circuit court…
Date: February 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 55
Docket Number: CR-14-846
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of capital murder and four counts of committing a terroristic act. The trial court imposed a total sentence of life imprisonment plus 120 months. Appellant later filed a pro se petition for…
Date: February 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 54
Docket Number: CR-93-1096
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of two counts of capital murder. Petitioner was sentenced to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment without parole. The Supreme Court affirmed. This appeal concerned…
Date: February 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 53
Docket Number: CV-14-615
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed a civil rights complaint against the circuit court clerk and a deputy clerk (together, Defendants) seeking declaratory judgment and money damages. Appellant subsequently filed a motion for Defendants to…
Date: February 19, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 49
Docket Number: CV-14-864
Justia Opinion Summary: Mason Mauldin, an employee of Central Flying Service, Inc. (CFS), was killed when the plane he was flying during the course of his employment crashed. Mauldin’s estate (the Estate) filed a wrongful-death complaint…
Date: February 17, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 48
Docket Number: CV-14-585
Date: February 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 43
Docket Number: CR-13-885
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of theft of property and two counts of aggravated robbery for robbing a bank. At trial, Appellant argued that he was involuntarily intoxicated at the time of the robbery due to the combination of…
Date: February 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 47
Docket Number: CR-14-1089
Date: February 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 45
Docket Number: CR-14-288
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a negotiated plea of nolo contendere to one count of theft of property-credit/debit card or account number and two counts of misdemeanor fraudulent use of a credit card. Appellant filed a petition for…
Date: February 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 46
Docket Number: CR-14-550
Date: February 12, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 42
Docket Number: CV-14-768
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1983, Appellant pled guilty to ten counts of aggravated robbery and one count of robbery. For one of the aggravated-robbery convictions, Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court…
Date: February 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 35
Docket Number: CR-14-334
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of two counts of rape, three counts of sexual abuse in the second degree, and three counts of sexual indecency with a child. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment for…
Date: February 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 39
Docket Number: CR-14-636
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was found guilty of aggravated robbery. Though represented by counsel, Petitioner filed a timely pro se notice of appeal on his own behalf. The circuit court entered an on order admonishing…
Date: February 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 40
Docket Number: CR-14-718
Date: February 5, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 41
Docket Number: CV-14-949
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, an inmate, filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the writ should issue on the ground that he would not have entered a plea of guilty in his criminal case if his attorney had correctly…
Date: January 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 28
Docket Number: CR-13-1006
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of three counts of aggravated robbery and one count of theft of property. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) there was sufficient evidence to support Appellant’s…
Date: January 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 30
Docket Number: CR-14-489
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of rape and tampering with physical evidence. The Supreme Court affirmed on all points except for the tampering with physical evidence conviction, which the Court reversed and…
Date: January 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 33
Docket Number: CR-14-948
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of several criminal offenses. The Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court dismissed Appellant’s pro se petition for review. More than four years after the mandate was…
Date: January 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 32
Docket Number: CV-12-330
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1979, Appellant pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant was seventeen years old when he committed the offense. In 2011, Appellant filed a pro se complaint for declaratory…
Date: January 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 29
Docket Number: CV-14-581
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Central Arkansas Water, which owns and operates Lake Maumelle as a public water supply, authorized the collection of a “watershed fee” imposed on wholesale customers, including Appellants. That same year,…
Date: January 29, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 34
Docket Number: CV-14-996
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Appellant was found guilty of rape and sexual indecency with a minor. An aggregate sentence of 480 months’ imprisonment was imposed. The Supreme Court affirmed. In 2014, Appellant filed a pro se petition for…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 18
Docket Number: CR-13-35
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of murder. The Supreme Court affirmed. Appellant then filed a petition for postconviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The trial court denied the…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 16
Docket Number: CR-14-472
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Defendant was convicted of three counts of rape, three counts of aggravated robbery, and one count of Class B felony kidnapping. Defendant’s convictions arose from three separate incidents that occurred in…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 23
Docket Number: CR-14-716
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to multiple felony offenses. Appellant subsequently filed a timely pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. The trial court dismissed the petition on the…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 25
Docket Number: CR-14-885
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Appellant entered guilty pleas to first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree sexual assault, and having violated the terms of a suspended imposition of sentence. Appellant did not appeal his…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 26
Docket Number: CR-14-923
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of committing a terroristic act, criminal attempt to commit first-degree battery, and four counts of aggravated assault. The court of appeals affirmed. Petitioner subsequently filed a petition…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 22
Docket Number: CR-86-183
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1986, a judgment of conviction was entered wherein Petitioner was found guilty of aggravated robbery and sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment. Before the Supreme Court here was Petitioner’s pro se…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 19
Docket Number: CV-13-708
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed a motion for a hearing on the denial of a request that he had made to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory under the Freedom of Information Act. The circuit court dismissed the complaint based on Ark. Code…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 21
Docket Number: CV-14-1013
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, the circuit court entered an order terminating the parental rights of Appellants, Abigail Ransom and Owen Harvey, to their minor child. Appellants failed to timely appeal. Appellants subsequently filed two…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 17
Docket Number: CV-14-272
Justia Opinion Summary: The City Manager of the City of Hot Springs unilaterally allowed regular meetings of the Board of Directors for the City, including a public-comment period following the meetings, to be telecast. Later, at a workshop…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 20
Docket Number: CV-14-273
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Appellant was convicted of rape, sexual indecency with a child, and possessing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child. The Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) applied Ark. Code Ann.…
Date: January 22, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 15
Docket Number: CV-14-307
Justia Opinion Summary: McHughes Law Firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of Precision Analytics, Inc., McHughes’ client, against Lillie McMullen asserting that McMullen was responsible for a consumer debt incurred on a credit card issued to her…
Date: January 15, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 10
Date: January 15, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 8
Docket Number: CR-14-844
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant entered a plea of guilty to first-degree battery of a child in violation of Ark. Code Ann. 5-13-201(a)(9). Appellant was sentenced to 480 months imprisonment. Thereafter, Appellant filed a pro se petition to…
Date: January 15, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 9
Docket Number: CR-14-991
Justia Opinion Summary: On July 9, 2012, Petitioner filed in the circuit court a pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1. Petitioner then filed this pro se petition for writ of mandamus seeking to have the…
Date: January 15, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 3
Docket Number: CV-14-187
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment. Appellant filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus, apparently asserting a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel…
Date: January 15, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 1
Docket Number: CV-14-454
Justia Opinion Summary: Metropolitan National Bank agreed to finance construction of a residential subdivision. As security for the note, Ruskin Heights executed a mortgage on the real property in favor of Metropolitan. The afternoon after…
Date: January 15, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 2
Docket Number: CV-14-58
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was arrested based on a violation of drug laws. Cash in the amount of $5093 was recovered from Appellant’s vehicle at the time of his arrest. The prosecuting attorney filed an in rem complaint on behalf of the…
Date: January 15, 2015
Citation: 2015 Ark. 6
Docket Number: CV-14-585
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