State v. Knight

533 S.W.2d 488, 259 Ark. 107, 1976 Ark. LEXIS 2037
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 19, 1976
DocketCR 75-125
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 533 S.W.2d 488 (State v. Knight) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Knight, 533 S.W.2d 488, 259 Ark. 107, 1976 Ark. LEXIS 2037 (Ark. 1976).

Opinions

J. Fred Jones, Justice.

This is an appeal by the State of Arkansas from an order in a circuit court judgment granting the appellee-defendant’s motion for discharge and dismissal of felony charges against him, because he had been denied a speedy trial.

On July 5, 1974, the appellee William Knight was charged on information filed by the prosecuting attorney in Crittenden County with the crime of first degree murder. He was arraigned on September 4, 1974, at which time he entered a plea of not guilty. Knight was unable to make bond so he remained in jail while awaiting trial. For various reasons not germane to the issues here, and really not fully disclosed by the record, Knight’s case did not come to trial until February 24, 1975.

When appellee Knight’s case came to trial on February 24, 1975, he filed a motion to dismiss in compliance with Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-1708 (Repl. 1964) because he was not given a speedy trial. Knight’s case proceeded to jury trial on February 24, 1975. He was found guilty of murder in the second degree, and the jury imposed a sentence of 15 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. On February 26, 1975, Knight filed a motion to postpone sentencing under the jury verdict until his motion to dismiss for want of a speedy trial could be heard and passed on by the trial court. Sentencing was postponed pursuant to Knight’s motion and on May 15, 1975, a hearing was held on the motion to dismiss. On June 9, 1975, the trial court entered the judgment order appealed from as follows:

“Now on this the 24th day of February, 1975, this cause comes on to be heard. The Plaintiff appears by David Burnett, Prosecuting Attorney within and for the Second Judicial District of Arkansas, and Joe Rogers, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Crittenden County, Arkansas. The Defendant appears in person and with his attorney, Kent J. Rubens. The Defendant, having previously waived a formal arraignment and enter[ed] his plea of NOT GUILTY to the charge of murder in the first degree, announced ready for trial subject to the Court’s ruling on Defendant’s Motion for Dismissal. A jury of twelve (12) from the regular panel of petit jurors was impaneled and sworn to try the cause, and, having heard the evidence, the instructions of the Court, and argument of counsel, retired to consider its verdict of guilty of the lesser included crime of murder in the second degree and fixed his punishment for a term of fifteen (15) years in the State Penitentiary.
The Court informed the Defendant of the nature of the charge, his plea thereon and the verdict of the jury thereon, and asked if Defendant had any legal cause to show why judgment should not be pronounced against him, and the Defendant again argued that the Court consider his Motion for Dismissal for Failure to Grant Him a Speedy Trial.
Sentencing was postponed, and a hearing was held to determine the merit of Defendant’s Motion, said hearing was held on May 15, 1975, with the Defendant appearing in person and by and through his attorney, Kent J. Rubens, and the State appearing by and through its attorney, David Burnett, Prosecuting Attorney within and for the Second Judicial District of Arkansas, together with Joe Rogers and James C. Hale, Jr., Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys for Crittenden County, Arkansas. The Court heard the evidence of the parties together with their witnesses, the arguments of counsel and the Brief submitted by Defendant.
On Monday, June 9, 1975, the Court by letter advised Defendant’s attorney that the Motion should be granted and that the charge against the Defendant should be dismissed with prejudice and the verdict of the jury set aside.
IT IS, THEREFORE, BY THE COURT CONSIDERED AND ORDERED that the verdict of the jury should be and the same is now hereby set aside; that the Defendant, William Lee Knight, be discharged from the custody of the Sheriff of Crittenden County, Arkansas, and the charge of murder in the first degree filed against him dismissed with prejudice and costs shall be taxed to the State.
ENTERED this 30th day of June, 1975.”

On its appeal to this court the state contends that the ruling of the trial court was clearly erroneous both legally and factually. The appellee contends, however, that the' appeal should be dismissed for failure of the state to comply with statutory requirements pertaining to appeals by the state,. We shall first consider the appellee’s contentions.

Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-2720 (Repl. 1964) provides for appeal by the state and appears as follows:

“Where an appeal on behalf of the State is desired, the prosecuting attorney shall pray the appeal during the term at which the decision is rendered, whereupon the clerk shall immediately make a transcript of the record and transmit the same to the attorney general, or deliver the transcript to the prosecuting attorney, to be transmitted by him. If the attorney general, on inspecting the record, is satisfied that error has been committed to the prejudice of the State, and upon which it is important to the correct and uniform administration of the criminal law that the Supreme Court should decide, he may by lodging the transcript in the clerk’s office of the Supreme Court within sixty [60] days after the decision, take the appeal.”

The appellee argues that strict compliance with the terms of the statute is jurisdictional and that under its terms the attorney “must endorse on the transcript a direction to the clerk of the Supreme Court to file same,” citing State v. Cox, 29 Ark. 115. We find no language in the statute requiring the attorney general to endorse on the transcript any direction to the clerk of this court. Neither do we find such requirement in State v. Cox, supra. The Cox case presented a unique situation. In that case this court found from the exceptions taken by the prosecuting attorney that the trial court had excluded all evidence that seemed to have been offered by the state and, consequently, the defendant was found not guilty. This court in Cox then said:

“How, the case got into this court does not appear. There is no record entry in the transcript before us, showing that an appeal was prayed by the state, in the circuit court, nor does the file mark of the clerk of this court show who filed the transcript in his office. It appears simply to have been filed, and the cause docketed and submitted.

This court in (’ox then recited the statutory requirement, that where an appeal on behalf of the state is desired, .the prosecuting attorney shall pray the appeal during the term at which the decision is rendered; whereupon, the clerk shall make a transcript of the record and transmit it to the attorney general or give it to the prosecuting attorney to be by him transmitted to the attorney general. This court then recited that portion of the statute providing that if the attorney general upon inspection of the record is satisfied that error had been committed to the prejudice of the state, etc., “he may, by lodging the transcript in the clerk’s office of the Supreme Court within sixty days [60] days after the decision, take the appeal.”

The prosecuting attorney in the case at bar did file notice of appeal on July 7, 1975, and designated for.

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Bluebook (online)
533 S.W.2d 488, 259 Ark. 107, 1976 Ark. LEXIS 2037, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-knight-ark-1976.