Court Opinion

ID: 9775238
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:51:02.00945+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:23.979718
License: Public Domain

Darrell Hickman, Justice. This is a companion case to Swaite v. State, 272 Ark. 128, 612 S.W. 2d 307 (1981). Two men wearing ski masks tried to rob a liquor store at Harrisburg, Arkansas on January 4, 1980. Two others were charged as participating in the scheme. A shoot-out between the men and Bill Junkin, the owner and operator, resulted and the robbery attempt was thwarted. Junkin’s wife and child were in the store when the shooting occurred. Joseph Verser Swaite, the appellant, received a separate trial from Walter Swaite and Tommy Swaite, both of whom were charged with the defendant. Their case is reported in Swaite v. State, supra. Joseph Verser Swaite was convicted of attempted capital murder, aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to thirty years on the first count, thirty years on the second, and ten years for each aggravated assault. The judge ordered him to serve two forty year sentences concurrently. On appeal he argues three errors, none of which have merit. First, he concedes that no objections were made at the trial to his being charged with and convicted of both attempted capital murder and aggravated robbery. He argues on appeal that being charged with both of those offenses violates the double conviction prohibition of Ark. Stat. Ann. § 41-105 (1) (a) (2) (a) (Repl. 1977). Thatargument was made by counsel for the two other Swaites in Swaite v. State, supra, and was found to be meritorious. Their convictions were reversed and remanded. Swaite argues that we should deal with the question even though the trial court was given no opportunity to rule on the issue, asking us to adopt the ‘‘plain error” rule. He cites a dissenting opinion in Shelton v. State, 271 Ark. 342, 609 S.W. 2d 18 (1980) as his authority. We do not recognize the so-called ‘‘plain error” doctrine. As we plainly said in Wicks v. State, 270 Ark. 781, 606 S.W. 2d 366 (1980): ... In Arkansas, however, we do not have such a rule. Smith v. State, 268 Ark. 282, 595 S.W. 2d 671 (1980). To the contrary, in hundreds of cases we have reiterated our fundamental rule that an argument for reversal will not be considered in the absence of an appropriate objection in the trial court. Citations to that familiar principle are unnecessary. That even applies to questions of constitutional magnitude, Williams v. Edmondson, 257 Ark. 837, 250 S.W. 2d 260 (1975). We did acknowledge in Wicks four possible exceptions to the rule, but none of them apply to this case. The United States Supreme Court has, on occasion, noticed errors not raised in the court below. But that has been in the exercise of their discretionary power only. United States v. Atkinson, 297 U.S. 157 (1936); Weems v. United States, 217 U.S. 349 (1909). In Rowe v. State, 271 Ark. 20, 607 S.W. 2d 657, cert. denied, 101 S. Ct. 1764 (1981), the appellant tried to raise on appeal, but not at trial, the issue of double j eopardy because two offenses were charged, one of which may well have been a lesser included offense. The charges in Rowe were attempted capital murder and aggravated robbery. We held that the arguments could not be heard on appeal because it was not argued below. Swaite’s second argument, which is two-pronged, goes to the enhancement of his sentence. The information charged six crimes and in two separate paragraphs asked that Swaite receive additional punishment because he had used a firearm in connection with three specified aggravated assaults and because he had three prior felony convictions. At Swaite’s request, before trial, the court struck counts five and six. Count five charged Swaite with aggravated assault against a deputy sheriff with a pistol and count six charged him with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. Swaite’s argument is that the two paragraphs seeking enhancement were listed on the information immediately following counts five and six, and were a part of counts five and six. He argues that since counts five and six were stricken, these paragraphs were also stricken. The trial court held that the enhancement paragraphs were not stricken and rightly so. They were separate and distinct allegations from counts five and six and not at all dependent upon those counts for their validity. The trial court struck one prior conviction but allowed two others in evidence which alleged that Swaite was convicted in Jefferson County, Kentucky in 1968 of armed robbery and willful murder. As it turns out these convictions were reversed by the appellate court and remanded. Swaite was subsequently found guilty of the same offenses so that the convictions, for these same offenses, were actually dated “1973” rather than “1968” as alleged in the information. It is argued that the state should be prohibited from using the convictions because of the variance of the date and the fact that the defendant had inadequate notice of the alleged convictions. The trial court, finding that the prosecution’s file had been open for months to the defense, and finding no prejudice as a result of the variance of the dates, overruled the objections. We uphold that decision. In Finch v. State, 262 Ark. 313, 556 S.W. 2d 434 (1977), we found no prejudicial error when the prosecuting attorney was allowed, during the trial, to amend the information to allege previous convictions. The appellant is correct that it is a matter of notice and prejudice, but in this case the prosecution’s file showed that the convictions were evidently overturned and then reinstated in 1973, a fact that removes any possibility of prejudice. Finally, it is argued the prosecuting attorney’s remarks during the trial were prejudicial and can only be cured by granting a new trial. During opening remarks the prosecuting attorney said: The overwhelming proof in this case will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Mr. Swaite on the evening of January 4, 1980, along with three other persons, Tommy Swaite, Walter Swaite, two persons who have already had their day in court...” An objection to these remarks was sustained and the judge admonished the jury to disregard them but denied a motion for mistrial. The defense had filed a motion in limine to prevent any reference to the conviction of the other Swaites. Although no order was granted, evidently some understanding was reached between counsel that the jury would not be told of the other Swaites’ conviction. Any error was cured by the court’s admonition. Parker v. State, 265 Ark. 315, 578 S.W. 2d 206 (1979). The other remarks objected to were during closing when the prosecuting attorney said: I, of course, agree with what Mr. Webb said in some instances and disagree quite hard in others. I would agree with him that you made promises to us in the voir dire that you would decide this case based upon the evidence you heard from the witness stand. That’s what you told him and all of us that you would do. You’ve heard a total of 9 witnesses. He talked to you, I think, kind of tongue and cheek. I know K. W. [Webb], well, he’s got a job to do and it’s probably a difficult job for him to do in this particular case. A motion for mistrial was denied and no request for an admonition was requested or given. This is a discretionary matter and we cannot say the judge abused that discretion. The remarks were no more than the usual unnecessary banter that counsel often feel compelled to engage in. Affirmed. Purtle, ]., dissents.