Court Opinion

ID: 7821604
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-07 17:56:26.269059+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:30:45.136896
License: Public Domain

John A. Fogieman, Chief Justice, concurring. I concur in the majority opinion. The only reason for this concurrence is my feeling that we should recognize that under Rule 27.3, Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, an affidavit, formerly required under Ark. Stat. Ann. § 27-1403 (Repl. 1979), is no longer an essential prerequisite for the granting of a continuance. If good cause is shown, it should not matter how it is shown. An affidavit (or affidavits) may provide the most appropriate vehicle for making the showing, as is often the case in motion practice. In my opinion, the defect in this case is not in the failure to file accompanying affidavits. It is in the failure to make the showing of good cause that might have been made by an affidavit. Section 27-1403 was made applicable to criminal proceedings by § 190 of the Criminal Code of 1869 [Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-1706 (Repl. 1977)]. Section 27-1403 was a part of the Civil Code of 1869- We have adopted comprehensive new Rules of Criminal Procedure and of Civil Procedure. Although 27-1403 is not mentioned in the supersession order entered when the Rules of Civil Procedure were adopted, those rules include Rule 40 (b) which merely provides that the court may, upon motion and for good cause shown, continue any case previously set for trial. The Reporter’s notes state that the motion for continuance does not have to be in writing. There is no provision in the current Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure similar to Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-1706. I do not see how § 27-1403, at least as applied to criminal cases, can be said to have survived. I fully recognize the fact that, since the adoption of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, I have written two opinions in which reference was made to Ark. Stat. Ann. § 27-1403. See Venable v. State, 260 Ark. 201, 538 S.W. 2d 286 and Kelley v. State, 261 Ark. 31, 545 S.W. 2d 919. Both of these opinions were written before the adoption of the Rules of Civil Procedure. In Venable, we considered the failure to file an affidavit as only one significant factor in appellate review of the exercise of the trial court’s discretion in denying a motion for continuance. In Kelley, we said that the denial of a motion not in compliance with § 27-1403 was not an abuse of discretion; however, we pointed out that, even if the testimony of the appellant as to the testimony of a witness constituted substantial compliance with the statute, appellant’s lack of diligence would have justified denial of the continuance. I firmly believe that the filing of an affidavit as to the anticipated testimony of an absent witness is the better practice and that a trial court would be justified in denying a motion for continuance based on the unavailability of a witness when there is no adequate showing of what that witness would testify. I do not believe that the formal affidavit is an absolute requisite for the granting of a continuance or is its absence a ground for denial of a continuance, if an appropriate showing is otherwise made. I am authorized to state that Mr. Justice Hickman joins in this opinion.