Glaze v. State

378 S.W.3d 897, 2011 Ark. App. 283, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 320
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedApril 20, 2011
DocketNo. CA CR 10-1091
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 378 S.W.3d 897 (Glaze v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Glaze v. State, 378 S.W.3d 897, 2011 Ark. App. 283, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 320 (Ark. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Chief Judge.

hChariell Glaze was convicted by a Faulkner County of possession of a firearm by a felon, a Class B felony. He was sentenced as a habitual criminal to twenty-five years’ imprisonment. On appeal, Glaze argues that his conviction and sentence are illegal because (1) the amended felony information that sought an enhanced sentence based on his prior multiple convictions did not list the number and nature of those prior convictions, and (2) the State was permitted to amend the felony information on the morning of trial. We affirm Glaze’s conviction but remand for resentencing.

Glaze does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence; therefore, only a brief recitation of facts is necessary. On March 27, 2009, Glaze was charged by felony information,^[¿pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-73-103 (Repl.2005), with possession of a firearm by a felon and pursuant to section 5-13-204 with aggravated assault.1 On June 8, 2009, defense counsel filed a discovery receipt, acknowledging receipt of multiple documents, including a certified copy of a judgment and commitment order in CR 97-478, which included Glaze’s 1998 convictions of two counts of terroristic threatening and one count of second-degree battery.

On July 13, 2010, the State filed an amended felony information that added a sentencing enhancement pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-90-201,2 also known as the Habitual Criminal Act. At Glaze’s jury trial, which commenced later that morning, defense counsel objected to the amendment, acknowledging three prior Arkansas convictions, but arguing that he knew nothing of a conviction in Georgia. The trial court overruled the objection, stating that the amended information did not change the elements 13of the crime or sentencing. At trial, Glaze admitted to the three Arkansas convictions and that he was on probation for a battery conviction in Georgia.

At the conclusion of the evidence, the jury convicted Glaze of being a felon in possession of a firearm. During sentencing, the State argued that because there was a document that established three pri- or convictions and Glaze admitted to another conviction in Georgia, he was subject to an enhanced term of imprisonment based on four prior convictions pursuant to section 16-90-201(3)(A). Defense counsel objected to the application of the Georgia conviction because there was no record of it. The trial court overruled the objection, instructing the jury that Glaze was a habitual criminal with four prior convictions, which exposed him to a sentence range of twenty to thirty years’ imprisonment.3 The jury thereafter sentenced Glaze to twenty-five years’ imprisonment, which was approved by the trial court. Glaze argues on appeal that his sentence is illegal because the State’s amended felony information failed to list the number and nature of his prior convictions and failed to provide him sufficient notice of the fourth Georgia conviction.

Whenever the State seeks to charge a defendant as a previous offender or habitual criminal in order to warrant the imposition of additional punishment for the offense charged, the previous offense is an essential element in the punishment, which must be alleged in the indictment or information. Finch v. State, 262 Ark. 313, 316, 556 S.W.2d 434, 436 (1977). |4The purpose of this requirement is to afford the defendant notice of essential elements upon which the State relies for assessment of punishment and to give him the opportunity to refute such assertions. Finch, 262 Ark. at 316, 556 S.W.2d at 436. In the case at bar, there is no dispute that Glaze was properly charged by felony information of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a Class B felony. There is also no dispute that he was charged by an amended information with a sentence enhancement. At issue are the form and timing of the amended information.

Amended informations are permitted by Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-85-407(a)-(b) (Repl.2005), which provides that the State, with leave of the court, may amend an indictment as to matters of form or may file a bill of particulars; however, no indictment shall be amended or bill of particulars filed so as to change the nature of the crime charged or the degree of the crime charged. It is well settled that an information may be amended up to a point after a jury has been sworn if it does not change the nature of a crime or create unfair surprise. Baumgarner v. State, 316 Ark. 373, 379, 872 S.W.2d 380, 384 (1994). It has been held that an amendment that adds a habitual-offender allegation does not change the nature or degree of the crime. Baumgarner, 316 Ark. at 379, 872 S.W.2d at 384 (citing Finch, 262 Ark. at 317, 556 S.W.2d at 436). Such an amendment simply authorizes a more severe punishment, not by creating an additional offense or an independent crime, but by affording evidence to increase the final punishment in the event the defendant is convicted. Id. at 379, 872 S.W.2d at 384 (citing Finch, 262 Ark. at 317, 556 S.W.2d at 436).

|sHere, there was no error in allowing the amendment based upon its form. The amendment specifically referred to section 16-90-201, which is a habitual-criminal-enhancement statute. While the amendment did not specifically list the number of Glaze’s prior felonies or specifically name them, this is not required. In Wilson v. State, 251 Ark. 900, 475 S.W.2d 543 (1972), the appellant challenged an amended felony information on the ground that it merely cited to the habitual-criminal statute and failed to specifically designate his four previous convictions. The Wilson court rejected the argument, stating that “[a]ny defect in this general allegation could have been reached by a motion for a bill of particulars.” Wilson, 251 Ark. at 903, 475 S.W.2d at 544. “The information was sufficient to put the appellant on notice that the charges included the habitual-criminal act and any lack of specificity of the allegation was waived by this appearance and voluntary plea.” Id., 475 S.W.2d at 545.

Likewise, there was no error in allowing the amendment because it was filed the morning of trial. The amendment to the felony information was filed prior to the case being submitted to the jury, which under similar circumstances has been held to be timely. Traylor v. State, 304 Ark. 174, 801 S.W.2d 267 (1990) (holding that an amendment to a felony information on the day of trial, charging the defendant as a habitual criminal, was not error). Glaze’s reliance upon Sherman v. State, 30 Ark. App. 217, 785 S.W.2d 49 (1990), appeal dismissed on other grounds by State v. Sherman, 303 Ark. 284, 796 S.W.2d 339 (1990), is misplaced because there the record was devoid of any allegation of prior convictions or preference to the habitual-offender statute until the trial court’s sentencing upon a plea of guilty. Sherman, 30 Ark. App. at 220, 785 S.W.2d at 50.

Moreover, Glaze suffered no prejudice or surprise as a result of the amended information.

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Related

Glaze v. State
2011 Ark. 464 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
378 S.W.3d 897, 2011 Ark. App. 283, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glaze-v-state-arkctapp-2011.