Opinion ID: 1726012
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Morris's sentence

Text: Except for some objections about leading questions, there was no objection to Morris's testimony, upon direct examination by the prosecutor, in which he detailed the events of the crime and his feelings about having participated. However, when he was asked about the sentence he had received an objection was made. Burkhart's counsel stated to the court only that Morris's testimony that he had received life without parole was irrelevant and highly prejudicial. The prosecutor responded that he had thought Burkhart would want the jury to have that information. In his brief on appeal Burkhart argues that the testimony violated his right to equal protection of the laws because, had Burkhart been tried first, Morris would not have felt free to testify against him. This constitutional argument was not presented to the trial court. To have it considered on appeal, even a constitutional argument must have been made at the trial. See Horn v. State, 282 Ark. 75, 665 S.W.2d 880 (1984), which also involved raising an equal protection argument on appeal which had not been stated as a basis of objection at trial. The ground for objection may not be changed on appeal to one which was not raised at trial, as we will not consider an objection raised for the first time on appeal. Hegwood v. State, 297 Ark. 218, 760 S.W.2d 859 (1988); Hart v. State, 296 Ark. 290, 756 S.W.2d 451 (1988).