Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court of Arkansas reviewed an appeal from Lemuel Whiteside, who was challenging the denial of his petition for postconviction relief under Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37.1. Whiteside was previously convicted of capital felony murder, aggravated robbery, and a firearm enhancement, receiving respective sentences of life, thirty-five years, and fifteen years. He argues that his constitutional rights were violated and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.Whiteside claimed that his Eighth Amendment rights were violated due to the jury's consideration of a life-sentence option on the aggravated-robbery charge. However, the court noted that this argument could have been raised during his direct appeal and, as such, was ineligible for consideration in a Rule 37 proceeding.Whiteside further claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, alleging that his attorneys failed to preserve his Eighth Amendment claim and failed to offer the testimony of a co-defendant as mitigating evidence. The court rejected these allegations, noting that failure to make a meritless argument is not deficient performance and that the decision to call a witness is typically a matter of trial strategy.Whiteside also argued that his counsel failed to investigate or offer evidence regarding his mental state and history of psychiatric treatment for mitigation purposes. The court upheld the trial counsel's strategic decision not to introduce this evidence due to the potentially damaging counter-evidence the state could have presented. The court affirmed the denial of postconviction relief, rejecting Whiteside's claims. View "WHITESIDE v. STATE OF ARKANSAS" on Justia Law

In September 2021, Aaron Welch died intestate, leaving behind a widow, Kristin Welch, and two minor children from his previous marriage. Kristin Welch, appointed as the administratrix of Aaron Welch's estate, filed an application for reservation of homestead & dower with the Pope County Circuit Court, claiming a homestead interest in the mortgaged home she had lived in with her late husband. Katelyn Gipson, the natural guardian of the minor children, argued that Kristin Welch did not have such an interest based on Arkansas Code Ann. § 28-39-201. This statute requires a surviving spouse to have been continuously married to the deceased for more than a year to have a homestead interest. Kristin Welch challenged the constitutionality of this statute, but the circuit court found it constitutional and ruled that she did not have a homestead interest in the property.On appeal, the Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the lower court's decision. The Supreme Court noted that the Arkansas Constitution's provision on homestead rights was gender-based and had been previously declared unconstitutional for violating the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Consequently, the statutory provision, Ark. Code Ann. § 28-39-201(d), which is gender-neutral and requires the continuous marriage condition, stands as the controlling law. The court found no error in the circuit court's application of this statute and concluded that Kristin Welch, having been married to the decedent for less than a year, did not have a statutory homestead interest in the property. View "WELCH ex rel. ESTATE OF AARON WELCH v. GIPSON" on Justia Law

Rodney Dale Harmon was convicted of multiple drug-related felonies and sentenced to forty years in prison. During the execution of a search warrant at Harmon's residence, an HBO documentary film crew was present. The footage of the search, however, could not be obtained. Harmon, in his appeal, claimed that the presence of the film crew violated his Fourth Amendment rights. He filed a petition for postconviction relief under Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37, which was denied by the circuit court.The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the circuit court’s decision. The court stated that although Harmon argued that the presence of the HBO documentary film crew violated his Fourth Amendment rights, a constitutional violation alone does not trigger the application of Rule 37. The court also stated that issues related to the legality of evidence obtained are not of such a fundamental nature as to void the judgment. The court further noted that Harmon's trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise this argument as the remedy for such a violation in the context of a criminal trial is not established law. The court concluded that Harmon's petition conclusively showed that he was entitled to no relief and therefore, the circuit court did not err by dismissing the petition without a hearing. View "HARMON v. STATE OF ARKANSAS" on Justia Law

In the case before the Supreme Court of Arkansas, Rodney Dale Harmon, who was convicted of multiple drug-related felonies and sentenced to 40 years in prison, appealed the denial of his petition for postconviction relief under Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 37. The appeal was mainly based on the presence of an HBO documentary film crew while a search warrant was executed at his home, and he argued that this violated his Fourth Amendment rights.The court ruled that claims related to the presence of the film crew during the search could not be used to void the judgment, as even constitutional violations are not in themselves enough to trigger application of Rule 37. The court further noted that issues of evidence, including those possibly obtained by illegal search or seizure, are not of such a fundamental nature as to void the judgment.Harmon also claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the Fourth Amendment violation as an independent ground to suppress the evidence obtained in the search. The court disagreed, stating that even though the violation was established law, the remedy was not, and that counsel was not deficient for failing to raise a novel argument.Thus, the court affirmed the circuit court's denial of Harmon's petition for postconviction relief. View "HARMON v. STATE OF ARKANSAS" on Justia Law

In the case before the Supreme Court of Arkansas, the appellant, Cordale Stacy, was convicted of three counts of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole on each count, along with a consecutive fifteen years’ imprisonment for a firearm enhancement. The appellant argued that the circuit court erred in denying his motions to dismiss the capital-murder charges due to an alleged overlap of capital, first-degree, and second-degree murder statutes.The case arose from a shooting incident in a Forrest City apartment where three individuals, an adult and two children, were found deceased. Witnesses identified Stacy fleeing the scene and further investigations led to his arrest. Stacy was charged with three counts of capital murder, possession of a firearm by certain persons, and a felony-with-a-firearm enhancement.Stacy filed two motions to quash the felony information, arguing that the capital murder statute overlapped with the first-degree murder statute for the adult victim, and overlapped with the first-degree and second-degree murder statutes for the minor victims. He contended that this overlap exposed him to an impermissible uncertainty in the offenses, which should have led to their dismissal. The circuit court denied both motions.On appeal, the Supreme Court of Arkansas held that there was no constitutional infirmity in the overlap of these statutes. The Court noted that each offense set forth different elements to be proved by the State, and thus, any alleged overlap presented no constitutional issues. Furthermore, the Court affirmed that the discretion of the prosecutor to choose between overlapping offenses did not violate the Equal Protection or Due Process Clauses. Therefore, the Court affirmed the circuit court's denial of Stacy's motions to quash the felony information and dismiss the charges. As a result, Stacy's conviction and sentence were upheld. View "STACY v. STATE OF ARKANSAS" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court dismissing Petitioner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that the circuit court did not err in concluding that Petitioner had failed to state a ground for the writ.Petitioner pled guilty to rape and aggravated robbery and was sentenced as a habitual offender. In his habeas corpus petition, Petitioner alleged that he was innocent of the offense of rape, that the State maliciously applied the habitual offender statute in violation of the Eighth Amendment, and that the Arkansas statute requiring that he serve 100 percent of his sentence was unconstitutional. The circuit court found that the claims were not cognizable in habeas and noted that parole eligibility falls within the domain of the executive branch. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not err. View "White v. Payne" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court held that Ark. Code Ann. 12-9-301, which provides immunity from both suit and liability for certain officials "except to the extent that they have be covered by liability insurance," does not apply to a federal cause of action brought under 42 U.S.C. 1983 but does apply to a state claim brought under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act.Plaintiff filed a complaint against the Benton School District, a principal in the strict (Lori Bacon), and an assistant superintendent (Lisa Gattis). The district court concluded that all Defendants were liable under section 1983 and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act for violating Plaintiff's rights to free speech and to petition the government under the First Amendment. The court granted Bacon and Gattis's motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds but determined that their motion was limited to the extent they were covered by liability insurance. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part, holding (1) section 21-9-301 does not impact a claim brought under section 1983; and (2) the circuit court correctly ruled that section 21-9-301 immunity applies to claims arising under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act. View "Benton School District v. Greer" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court holding that the Arkansas Racing Commission's (ARC) decision to award the Pope County casino license to Cherokee Nation Businesses, LLC (CNB) and Legends Resort and Casino, LLC (Legends) was a "legal nullity, void and of no effect," holding that the circuit court did not err.In this third iteration of appeals involving the issuance of the license Gulfside Casino Partnership (Gulfside) argued that the ARC's action was ultra vires because it was issued in violation of the clear language of amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution. The circuit court granted summary judgment for Gulfside, concluding that the casino license issued by the ARC jointly to CNB and Legends was an ultra vires action. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not err in its decision. View "Cherokee Nation Businesses, LLC v. Gulfside Casino Partnership" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of capital murder and his sentence of life imprisonment without parole, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the circuit court (1) did not err by denying Defendant's motions to suppress evidence from the traffic stop because law enforcement had reasonable suspicion that Defendant was a felon in possession of a firearm; (2) did not err in denying Defendant's motions to suppress evidence from his detention and arrest because the same facts that provided reasonable suspicion for the initial stop provided reasonable suspicion for his pat-down and arrest; and (3) did not err by permitting the State to introduce videos containing statements made by law enforcement officers. View "Bishop v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court concluding that the Arkansas Racing Commission's (ARC) decision to award the Pope County casino license to Cherokee Nation Business, LLC (CNB) and Legends Resort and Casino, LLC (Legends) was a "legal nullity, void and of no effect," holding that there was no error.Gulfside Casino Partnership sought a declaratory judgment that the ARC's actions in awarding the license to CNB and Legends were unconstitutional, constituted and ultra vires act, and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The circuit court granted summary judgment for Gulfside, ruling that the ARC acted ultra vires, in violation of amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the ARC acted ultra vires in issuing the license to CNB. View "Cherokee Nation Businesses, LLC v. Gulfside Casino Partnership" on Justia Law