Court Opinion

ID: 9655193
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:02:18.281536+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:16.587361
License: Public Domain

Tom Glaze, Justice, concurring. I certainly agree with the holding reached by the majority. I strongly disagree with the majority’s decision not to mention the case of Moore v. State, 299 Ark. 532, 773 S.W.2d 834 (1989), in its opinion. The majority’s failure to cite Moore will not make that case go away; it is wrong, it will continue to cause confusion in the future, and it should be overruled. This court now has decided three criminal theft cases in less than one year where the point in issue was, “Did the State present sufficient proof to show the car stolen by the defendant exceeded the amount of $2,500.00.” These cases and the proof in each are listed in chronological order as follows: (1) Moore v. State— Proof: The car owner testified without objection that she bought her car, a 1980 Oldsmobile 98, in 1985, the car was in reasonably good condition and the value of the car is what she paid for it, $3,600.00. No evidence was offered to discredit this value testimony. Holding: In a 4-3 decision, this court reversed and dismissed theft charges against Moore because the state failed to prove that the value of the stolen car exceeded $2,500.00 (2) Stewart v. State, 302 Ark. 35, 786 S.W.2d 827 (1990)— Proof: The car owner testified that she had purchased a 1986 Thunderbird automobile which was three years old when it was stolen. She said that she was not good at estimating the car’s value but offered an approximate value of $7,000.00 or $8,000.00. She had paid $ 14,000.00 for it, and it was three years old at the time of the theft. A photograph of the car was introduced showing the car to be in what this court, on review, found as being in “apparently excellent condition.” Holding: This court unanimously upheld the defendant’s theft conviction, stating it could not say there was no substantial evidence of the value of the stolen car. (3) Today’s decision, Coley v. State— Proof: The car owner testified that she bought the car new for $22,000.00, but she could not recall the year model of the car. She said that it was in good condition and that only $400.00 had been spent on it for repairs. The officer, who arrested Coley, stated the car was a 1986 model. [No photograph of the car was introduced; nor was a car photograph offered in Moore.] Holding: This court affirms the defendant’s theft conviction, by citing Stewart, v. State and Tillman v. State, 271 Ark. 552, 609 S.W.2d 340 (1980), and stating “we find . . .substantial evidence.” In Moore I dissented and in Stewart I concurred and offered my opinion that this court, in deciding these two cases, had rendered decisions that were in conflict. I need not reiterate those views here. However, by this concurring opinion, I merely point out that we have yet another decision which, in my opinion, has difficulty in being understood in light of the rationale and holding in Moore. I encourage interested readers to conduct their own studies of these cases to reach their own conclusions, since, with this concurrence, I am through writing on this subject. In my view, the common denominator in these three cases lies with the manner in which the court reviewed the cases and its unspoken decision to find the value testimony to be credible in Stewart and Coley but not credible in Moore. Clearly, this court’s function does not include finding where credibility should lie. That duty lies either with a trial court or jury. This court erred in Moore, and we should correct the mistake now. Hays, J., joins this concurrence.