Justin Mays v. State of Arkansas

2024 Ark. 160

• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas
• Decided: October 24, 2024
• Status: Published

Opinion

Cite as 2024 Ark. 160 SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS No. CR-24-97

Opinion Delivered: October 24, 2024 JUSTIN MAYS APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 60CR-21-3881]

STATE OF ARKANSAS HONORABLE KAREN D. WHATLEY, APPELLEE JUDGE

REMANDED TO SETTLE AND SUPPLEMENT THE RECORD.

PER CURIAM

A Pulaski County Circuit Court jury convicted appellant Justin Mays of one count

of capital murder, two counts of terroristic act, and one count of first-degree battery. Mays

was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus a 120-

month enhancement, pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-90-120(a)–(b)

(Repl. 2016), to run consecutively. We remand to settle and supplement the record.

Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 3-4(c)(2) states that when there is a jury trial, the

“[v]erdict forms shall be inserted in the record.” We have reviewed the record, and the

jury-verdict forms are not included in the record of the circuit court proceedings. See Ark.

Sup. Ct. R. 4-3(a) (requiring this court to conduct an independent review of the record for

prejudicial error in life and death cases). Therefore, we must remand this case to settle and

supplement the record in accordance with Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure–Civil 6(e),

as applicable through Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure–Criminal 4(a). See Ross v. State, 2024 Ark. 70, at 1. Accordingly, Mays has thirty days from the date of this opinion to file a

supplemental record with this court. We encourage review of our rules to ensure that no

other deficiencies are present.

James Law Firm, by: William O. “Bill” James, Jr., and Drew Curtis, for appellant.

Tim Griffin, Att’y Gen., by: Michael Zangari, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.