Title: Tipton v. State

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

Shelby John TIPTON v. STATE of Arkansas

CR 97-682                                          ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered January 15, 1998


1.   Constitutional law -- Double Jeopardy Clause -- protection offered. -- The
     Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United
     States Constitution protects a defendant from: (1) a second
     prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; (2) a second
     prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and (3)
     multiple punishments for the same offense.

2.   Constitutional law -- Double Jeopardy Clause -- underlying policies never
     implicated in proceeding in which appellant's charge was dismissed. -- The
     policies underlying double jeopardy protection, which apply to
     both jury and bench trials, were never implicated in the
     proceeding in which the charge against appellant was dismissed
     because the trial judge in that proceeding did not begin to
     hear evidence against appellant before dismissing his case; in
     other words, appellant was not put to trial before the trier
     of the facts in the proceeding.

3.   Criminal procedure -- State must abide by speedy-trial rules. -- The
     State must abide by speedy-trial rules in bringing cases to
     trial.

4.   Appeal & error -- issue not considered absent authority or convincing
     argument. -- Where appellant neither cited authority nor made a
     convincing argument, the supreme court would not consider the
     issue.


     Appeal from Pulaski Circuit Court, Fourth Division; John W.
Langston, Judge; affirmed.
     William R. Simpson, Jr., Public Defender, by:  Deborah R.
Sallings, Deputy Public Defender, for appellant.
     Winston Bryant, Att'y Gen., by:  Kelly Terry, Asst. Att'y
Gen., for appellee.

     W.H. "Dub" Arnold, Chief Justice.
     This is an interlocutory appeal from an order of the Pulaski
County Circuit Court, Fourth Division, denying appellant Shelby
John Tiptonþs double-jeopardy-based motion to dismiss his second-
degree battery charge.  We affirm the trial courtþs order.
     On February 25, 1996, a fight broke out at B. J.þs Star
Studded Honky Tonk in Little Rock during which the appellant
allegedly struck Bradley Wood in the head with a beer bottle,
crushing bones in his face.  Thereafter, on May 20, 1996, the
appellant was charged by felony information with second-degree
battery.  His case, Case No. CR 96-1333, was assigned to the First
Division of Pulaski County Circuit Court.  The appellant waived a
jury trial, and a bench trial was set for January 6, 1997.  
     On the day of trial, while police officers who allegedly
witnessed the appellant strike the victim were present, the victim
did not appear.  The State asked the trial court for a continuance
to secure the presence of the victim for trial, but the trial court
denied the motion.  The appellant moved to dismiss the Stateþs
charge, which the trial court granted for the Stateþs þfailure to
prosecute.þ  No witnesses were sworn at this proceeding.
     On January 31, 1997, the State filed a second felony
information charging the appellant with second-degree battery.  The
case was assigned a new case number, Case No. CR 97-172, and was
assigned to the Fourth Division of Pulaski County Circuit Court. 
Subsequently, the appellant filed a motion to dismiss, claiming
that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibited
the State from pursuing the battery charge.  At a hearing on the
motion, the appellant asserted that the prior dismissal of the
battery charge amounted to an acquittal because the State lacked
evidence sufficient to convict him on the date set for trial.  In
response, the State explained that the victim, a former resident of
Heber Springs, had moved to Oklahoma and had not been served with
his subpoena for the January 6, 1997, trial.  Because the trial
judge in that proceeding had dismissed the charge without hearing
any evidence, the State maintained that double jeopardy did not
prohibit refiling of the charge.  After considering both arguments,
the trial court denied the appellantþs motion to dismiss.  The
appellant now appeals that ruling.
     The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the
United States Constitution protects a defendant from: (1) a second
prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; (2) a second
prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and (3) multiple
punishments for the same offense.  State v. Johnson, 330 Ark. 636,
____ S.W.2d ____ (1997); Edwards v. State, 328 Ark. 394, 943 S.W.2d 600 (1994).  The appellant claims that he is protected from a
second prosecution for second-degree battery because he was
acquitted of that charge when the trial court dismissed it at the
conclusion of the January 6, 1997, proceeding.  The State responds
that, because no witnesses were sworn at appellantþs January 6,
1997, bench trial, jeopardy did not þattachþ to that proceeding. 
Willis v. State, 299 Ark. 356, 772 S.W.2d 584 (1989), citing
Serfass v. United States,