Opinion ID: 1498170
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Overlap with first degree murder

Text: Coulter argues that first degree felony murder, described in Ark.Code Ann. § 5-10-102(a)(1) (1987), is the same as capital felony murder which is described in Ark.Code Ann. § 5-10-101(a)(1) (1987). He argues that, as first degree murder carries a lesser sentencing range, the discretion to charge one offense or the other violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. He acknowledges that this Court has consistently rejected the argument and does not suggest a reason why this case differs from the earlier ones he cites, i.e., Simpson v. State, 274 Ark. 188, 623 S.W.2d 200 (1981); Wilson v. State, 271 Ark. 682, 611 S.W.2d 739 (1981). As the State points out, our repeated rejection of this argument has continued in recent cases, such as White v. State, 298 Ark. 55, 764 S.W.2d 613 (1989); McClendon v. State, 295 Ark. 303, 748 S.W.2d 641 (1988), where we have found no constitutional or other impediment to the discretion conferred by the overlap upon the State to choose between the two laws in charging a particular homicide. Given the lack of argument distinguishing this case from the others, we find no error.