Kathy Hicks v. State of Arkansas

2024 Ark. App. 521

• Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas
• Decided: October 30, 2024
• Status: Published

Opinion

Cite as 2024 Ark. App. 521 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION III No. CR-23-819

Opinion Delivered October 30, 2024 KATHY HICKS APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE FAULKNER COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 23CR-19-805]

HONORABLE TROY B. BRASWELL, STATE OF ARKANSAS JR., JUDGE APPELLEE APPEAL DISMISSED

N. MARK KLAPPENBACH, Judge

Kathy Hicks appeals from the Faulkner County Circuit Court’s order revoking her

probation and sentencing her to six years’ imprisonment. We dismiss the appeal.

In 2019, Hicks pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and possession

of drug paraphernalia, both Class D felonies, and was placed on four years’ probation. Three

other charges were nolle prossed. In 2021, the State filed a petition to revoke alleging that

Hicks had violated the conditions of her probation by evading supervision, failing to pay

supervision fees, and failing to pay court-ordered costs and fines. A warrant was issued for

Hicks’s arrest on the revocation petition, but she was not arrested until 2023. At the

revocation hearing, Hicks pleaded guilty directly to the court. She was sentenced to six years’

imprisonment on both offenses with the sentences ordered to run concurrently. On appeal, Hicks argues that the circuit court mistakenly believed that it was

sentencing her on three offenses instead of two, and her sentence may have been different if

the circuit court had known she had only two convictions. 1 Hicks acknowledges that this

issue was not preserved for review, but she argues that we should adopt a “clear error” rule

for sentencing errors to allow appellate courts to reverse obvious errors by trial courts when

justice requires, despite the absence of a contemporaneous objection. The State contends

that Hicks’s appeal is an improper attempt to appeal from her guilty plea to the revocation

petition. We agree.

Generally, under Rule 1(a) of the Arkansas Rules of Appellate Procedure–Criminal,

there is no right to appeal from a guilty plea, except for a conditional plea of guilty pursuant

to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 24.3. Our supreme court has recognized two other

exceptions to the general rule: (1) when there is a challenge to testimony or evidence

presented in a sentencing hearing separate from the plea itself and (2) when the appeal is

from the denial of a posttrial motion challenging the validity and legality of the sentence

itself. See Ramsey v. State, 2021 Ark. App. 4. Absent one of the exceptions, a defendant

waives his or her right to appeal by pleading guilty. Burgess v. State, 2016 Ark. 175, 490

1 Hicks’s argument is based on the circuit court’s statement at the hearing: “So I’ve got—Count 3 is the possession of methamphetamine or cocaine—Count 4 and Count 5.” However, the sentencing order clearly reflects that Hicks’s probation was revoked only on counts 3 and 4, and count 5 was a charge that was nolle prossed for which Hicks was never on probation.

2 S.W.3d 645. Hicks’s appeal does not fall within any of these exceptions. Accordingly, we

must dismiss the appeal.

Appeal dismissed.

THYER and WOOD, JJ., agree.

Rebekah J. Kennedy, for appellant.

Tim Griffin, Att’y Gen., by: Walker K. Hawkins, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.