Cook v. State

906 S.W.2d 681, 321 Ark. 641, 1995 Ark. LEXIS 561
Supreme Court of Arkansas·Decided October 2, 1995·No. CR 95-298·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

Andree Layton Roaf, Justice.

Appellant Jerry Dean Cook was convicted in municipal court of driving while intoxicated and violation of the implied consent law for refusing to take a breathalyzer test. He appealed to circuit court and in a jury trial before a chancellor sitting in exchange, was again convicted of both offenses.

On appeal he challenges the authority of the chancellor to sit in exchange for the circuit judge and asserts the trial judge erred in three respects, by failing to declare the lower court system to be an unconstitutional violation of his right to both speedy and jury trial, by failing to declare the implied consent statute unconstitutional on equal protection grounds, and by failing to make the exchange agreement with the circuit judge a part of the record. All four points are without merit, and we affirm.

On July 25, 1993, the appellant was arrested in Benton County for driving while intoxicated and various other traffic offenses. On December 14, 1993, he was found guilty of driving while intoxicated and violation of the implied consent law, in the Rogers Municipal Court. Cook appealed the municipal court convictions to the Benton County Circuit Court by notice of appeal filed December 29, 1993.

A jury trial was conducted in the Benton County Circuit Court on November 4, 1994, before Chancellor Don Huffman, who was sitting in exchange for Circuit Judge Terry Crabtree; appellant was again found guilty of driving while intoxicated and violation of the implied consent law. His driver’s license was suspended for ninety days for DWI and for six months for violation of the implied consent law; he was also fined $1,000, ordered to pay court costs, sentenced to five days in the Benton County Jail, and ordered to complete a treatment program.

a. Speedy trial and jury trial

The appellant first contends that the trial court erred in not declaring the system of lower courts (municipal, city, mayor, and police) in Benton County to be an unconstitutional violation of his rights to speedy trial and jury trial. Appellant raised the issue in a pretrial motion to dismiss in which he argued that it was a violation of equal protection to require persons charged as he was in municipal court to undergo two trials in order to have a jury trial. He further argued that such persons must undergo two speedy trial periods rather than one, and the entire lower court system therefore systematically violates the speedy trial and jury trial rights of a substantial number of criminal defendants.

In arguing his motion to the trial judge, appellant’s counsel acknowledged that this court had ruled on the speedy trial issue in McBride v. State, 297 Ark. 410, 762 S.W.2d 785 (1989), where we held that upon appeal of a municipal court decision to circuit court, the one year speedy trial period begins to run from the day the appeal is filed in circuit court. Appellant’s appeal was lodged on December 29, 1993; he was tried in circuit court within one year, on November 4, 1994. Appellant asks that we overturn McBride because it allows for unequal treatment of like situated individuals in violation of Ark. Const, art. 2, §§ 3, 7, 10, and 18. Because DWI citations may be filed in either circuit or municipal court, he asserts that only those persons cited to municipal court are required to undergo two speedy trial periods. He cites no further authority nor does he advance a convincing argument for his assertion of constitutional violation; it is well established that such arguments will not be considered on appeal. See Thomson v. Littlefield, 319 Ark. 648, 893 S.W.2d 788 (1995); Reed v. Glover, 319 Ark. 16, 889 S.W.2d 729 (1994).

As to his contention that his right to jury trial has also been impermissibly infringed, this issue was addressed and decided in State v. Roberts, 321 Ark. 31, 900 S.W.2d 175 (1995), in which we held that the burden placed upon the right to a jury trial by requiring a proceeding in municipal court is not impermissible.

b. Chancellor sitting as circuit judge

For his next argument, Cook challenges the authority of a chancellor to sit as a judge in a criminal case. Prior to trial, the appellant filed a motion asserting that Chancellor Don Huffman had “no legal authority to sit as a circuit judge because he was not elected by the voters of the 19th Judicial District as a circuit judge.” According to arguments presented during the pretrial hearing, Chancellor Donald Huffman was sitting in exchange for Circuit Judge Terry Crabtree, both of the Nineteenth Judicial District. The appellant asserted the case should be transferred to a regular circuit judge because the chancellor had no legal authority to sit as a circuit judge in a criminal case.

In asserting that an exchange agreement between a chancellor and a circuit judge is unconstitutional, the appellant relies upon Ark. Code Ann. § 16-13-403 (Repl. 1994), Ark. Code Ann. § 16-13-2703 (Repl. 1994), and Ark. Const, art. 7, § 22. Section twenty-two of article seven of the Arkansas Constitution provides “The judges of the circuit courts may temporarily exchange circuits or hold courts for each other under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.” This Court has recognized that when a chancellor presides over a session of a circuit court, he or she does so as a circuit judge, and not as a chancellor. McEachin v. Martin, 193 Ark. 787, 102 S.W.2d 864 (1937). Further, we have commented that Ark. Code Ann. § 16-13-403 (Repl. 1994), as amended by Act 51 of 1992 (1st Ex. Sess.), authorizes exchanges between circuit judges and chancellors within the same districts-circuits. Lynch v. State, 315 Ark. 47, 863 S.W.2d 834 (1993); See also Hewitt v. State, 317 Ark. 362, 877 S.W.2d 926 (1994). Finally, § 16-13-403 specifically provides it is the intent and purpose of the section to permit circuit judges to exchange districts or circuits with chancellors and to permit chancellors to exchange districts or circuits with circuit judges. Accordingly, the appellant’s argument is without merit.

c. Exchange agreement

The appellant next asserts the failure of the trial court to either make the exchange agreement a part of the record or require the prosecutor to do so is reversible error. During the pretrial hearing, counsel for the appellant admitted he was aware that Chancellor Huffman was hearing the case on exchange. After discussion of appellant’s three pretrial motions, the following exchange occurred between the counsel for the appellant and the trial court:

Trial Court: [a] re we ready to proceed?

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Cook v. State, 906 S.W.2d 681, 321 Ark. 641, 1995 Ark. LEXIS 561 (Ark. 1995).

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