Court Opinion

ID: 7822086
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-07 17:58:30.607137+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:30:45.733888
License: Public Domain

John I. Purtle, Justice, dissenting. In addition to the reasons given by the Chief Justice in his dissent, with which I wholly agree, I wish to add additional reasons for my separate opinion. To start with, Amendment 8 to the United States Constitution states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Art. 2 § 9 of the Constitution of the State of Arkansas states: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor shall excessive fines be imposed; nor shall cruel or unusual punishment be inflicted; nor witnesses be unreasonably detained. The petitioner filed his petition at a time when he was charged with five felony counts. Two are for conspiracy to commit two of the other acts charged. He was initially placed under a $150,000 bond and the judge lowered the bond to $75,000. After he filed his petition for habeas corpus he was charged with an additional felony and bond was set at $25,000 which raised his total present bond to $100,000. By comparison these are fairly minor felonies. It was admitted by the prosecuting attorney that the petitioner was being held as much as a witness as he was an accused. In response to a question at the hearing, the prosecuting attorney made the statement that he and his staff could be prepared for trial in regard to the charges against the petitioner within one week. Hopefully, the question before this court will be moot by the time this opinion is published. The petitioner is 26 years of age and has been a lifelong resident of Arkansas. He did spend two years outside Arkansas while attending college in Milwaukee. Additionally, he spent some time serving in the armed forces of the United States. He is a veteran with a 40% disability rating. He was regularly employed before his. arrest and has been promised employment if he is released. In fact, he has worked for Bob Troutt since he was 15 years of age except for the time he was away in college and in the armed forces. He has never been convicted of a felony. It appears to me that the petitioner is being held under unreasonable bond for the simple reason that he is employed by Robert Troutt. I do not care what kind of vendetta the Sheriff of Pulaski County has against Troutt, but whatever it is, he should not be permitted to utilize the courts as willing accomplices to the disruption of the processes of orderly justice. This petitioner deserves and is guaranteed the right to have reasonable bail set for him based on the guidelines contained in the Chief Justice’s opinion. In accordance with our constitution, he is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, I would set a reasonable bond in an amount which would be sufficient to expect him to appear for trial.