Court Opinion

ID: 9779394
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 21:49:23.233937+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:25.207449
License: Public Domain

Tom Glaze, Justice, dissenting. I dissent. In my view, the majority makes a much better case than the appellant made for himself in this matter. The reason the appellant had difficulty in presenting a proper record on appeal is that the positions he took below were often inconsistent. For instance, the majority refers to the deplorable state of the record on the issue of standing in connection with appellant’s argument that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of the unlawful search. This court’s response to appellant’s argument on this issue should be simple: Appellant presented no testimony at the suppression hearing by any witness that the appellant either owned, or was a tenant of, the Mayflower property, which was searched. In fact, the evidence presented is undisputed that this property was owned by Howard Phillip Parette, Jr. Appellant’s counsel is the only person who made any statement (albeit unsupported), indicating the appellant lived on the Mayflower property. Actually, the majority court agrees that the appellant failed in any way to establish standing by the record before this court in this appeal and suggests that this issue will surely be reexamined at retrial. As I see the standing issue, the appellant at both the pretrial and the trial on the merits made every effort to claim certain personal properties which were found on the Mayflower farm but in every other way chose not to be identified with the Mayflower property. Simply put, the truth is that, except for the personalty he claimed that was found in the house at Mayflower, the appellant, for trial-strategy purposes, never claimed an interest, ownership or tenancy in the Mayflower property where the marijuana was found. Basically, the legal issue at trial became a factual one, and the trial judge decided it by ruling the appellant had no standing to challenge the search because he was not an owner or tenant. Even if the appellant changes his trial strategy on the retrial of this cause, the standing issue remains a factual one to be decided by the trial judge. The majority court actually reverses this case holding that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the appellant’s incriminating statements which he claims were made in reliance upon a plea agreement entered into between him and the state. Again, appellant’s point narrows itself to a factual issue which I believe was one correctly made by the trial judge. Instead, the majority court rejects the trial judge’s ruling and holds that it is convinced that the appellant’s incriminating statement was made in connection with the plea negotiations. In making its factual decision, the majority points mainly to testimony given by the appellant. It is true that the appellant testified, at the suppression hearing, that, on the day he gave his statement, he refused to make any statement to officers until he had something in writing. However, contrary testimony was given by Officer Ron Lewis, who was the officer who took the appellant’s incriminating statements. Lewis testified that he was never aware that the appellant made his statements based upon any sort of promise of a plea agreement and, in fact, said he believed the appellant made his statements because the appellant was “trying to take all of the responsibility for the marijuana operation in [Arkansas], rather than to incriminate his cousin, Dr. Phillip Parette, Jr.” Admittedly, the appellant’s and the state’s evidence on this issue was in conflict, concerning how and why the appellant gave his incriminating statements, but that was an issue the trial judge was required to, and did, make. The judge obviously did not believe the appellant’s testimony and ruled in favor of the state. The majority, in my opinion, is wrong in reversing the trial judge on the fact question. I would affirm. Hickman and Hays, JJ., join this dissent.