Court Opinion

ID: 9769252
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 14:41:54.70321+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:36:22.122247
License: Public Domain

Tom GLAZE, Justice, dissenting. The majority court holds trial courts to a standard different than the one it applies to itself. In this case, the trial judge rescheduled Jerrold Tanner’s drug-related case because the judge had a capital murder case set for the same date in a different county. Obviously, the judge could not be at both trials on the same day. Consequently, the judge chose to try the capital murder case first. That makes sense to me. Our court makes this same type of decision almost every week, and in making docket decisions, this court accelerates capital murder cases over other criminal and civil cases. Obviously, cases that bear possible death and life without parole sentences should take precedence on all court dockets, and I am surprised the majority court disagrees. I believe this court’s “legal hypocrisy” is showing when it holds trial judges to a standard other than the one it follows. Here, when the judge placed on the docket as his reason, “trial set for 12/13/94 . . . rescheduled due to commencement of capital murder trial of Frederick Jacobs, Drew County, CR93-138-1 on 12/13-16/94,” good cause was clearly shown, in my view, for continuing Tanner’s drug case. Cf Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-11-104— 105 (Repl. 1994). I would affirm.