Case Title: State v. Brooks

Citation: 301 Ark. 257, 783 S.W.2d 368

Docket Number: CR 89-189

State: arkansas

Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Date: 1990-02-05T00:00:00Z

Document:
783 S.W.2d 368 (1990) 301 Ark. 257 STATE of Arkansas, Appellant, v. Marvin Eugene BROOKS, Appellee. No. CR 89-189. Supreme Court of Arkansas. February 5, 1990. Clint Miller, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellant. Stephen R. Cobb, North Little Rock, for appellee. HICKMAN, Justice. The trial judge, upon learning the circumstances of the forgery charge levied against Marvin Eugene Brooks, decided Brooks should not be convicted of a felony and entered the following order: "Whereupon, the Court over the objection of the State amends the charge to THEFT OF PROPERTY, a misdemeanor...." The state appeals seeking a declaration of error under a statute and rule that permit that procedure. Ark.Code Ann. § 16-91-112(b) (1987); A.R.Cr.P. Rule 36.10(c); Boone v. State, 282 Ark. 274, 668 S.W.2d 17 (1984). We deem the question sufficiently important to the administration of justice to warrant review. The duty of charging an accused with a felony is reserved either to the grand jury or the prosecutor. Ark. Const. amend. 21, § 1. The trial judge encroached upon the prosecutor's constitutional duties and breached the separation of powers doctrine. In a similar case, United States v. Edmonson, 792 F.2d 1492 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1037, 107 S. Ct. 892, 93 L. Ed. 2d 844 (1987), a federal judge treated a felony charge as a misdemeanor and the appeals court stated: See also Petition of United States, 306 F.2d 737 (9th Cir.1962); State v. Laury, 397 So. 2d 960 (Fla.App.1981). Error declared.