Court Opinion

ID: 9764255
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:17:01.516229+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:55.321720
License: Public Domain

Darrell Hickman, Justice, concurring. The reason it is not a violation of the Arkansas Constitution to instruct the jury on prior convictions is because the constitutional function of a jury is only to determine the guilt or innocence of a defendant. See Froman v. State, 232 Ark. 697, 339 S.W.2d 601 (1960). At the time the constitution was adopted and at common law, the judge, not the jury, heard all evidence regarding the sentence and set the punishment. So any “fact” to be found by a jury during sentencing is not one contemplated by Art. 7 § 23 of the Arkansas Constitution.