Court Opinion

ID: 7827203
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-07 18:10:08.899007+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:30:53.815522
License: Public Domain

Tom Glaze, Justice, dissenting. The majority court dismisses this appeal because the appellant did not obtain a certification from the lower court that the seized contraband in issue in this appeal is no longer needed for evidentiary purposes. It adopts the State’s contention that, because appellant failed to obtain the certification, the trial court’s order refusing to return the contraband to the appellant was not a final order from which the appellant could appeal. The majority court analogizes this situation to the ones covered under Ark. R. Civ. P. 54(b), and like in Rule 54(b) cases, the majority reads that a party’s failure to obtain a certification under Ark. R. Crim. P. 15.2(e) is jurisdictional and is reason to dismiss the appellant’s appeal. As the majority opinion points out, the Rule 15.2(e) issue is one of first impression, and while the court now decides to interpret Rule 15.2(e) as jurisdictional, it is certainly not obliged to do so, because Rule 15.2(e) serves an entirely different purpose than Rule 54(b). It is quite clear that Rule 15.2(e)’s certification is to assure the seized contraband is no longer needed for evidentiary purposes, whether in criminal or civil proceedings. This is information the State in this case was fully aware of. If the State anticipated a future need of the contraband, the State could have made its needs known. The record reflects that neither the appellant nor the State needed the contraband as evidence since the defendant, David Shaw, is now dead and no additional prosecutions are mentioned. Surely, this is an evidentiary matter that could be waived and should not be jurisdictional. Rule 15.2(e) is unlike Rule 54(b), whose sole purpose is to prevent piecemeal appeals in order to avoid delay. In conclusion, I am well aware that the court may interpret Rule 15.2(e) strictly as a jurisdictional bar when no certification has been obtained showing the seized contraband is no longer needed for evidentiary purposes. However, this court has a choice or alternative construction that is far more reasonable — a certification can be waived where a party or the record fails to show any future need for the contraband, and, in fact, reflects no pending or possible proceedings that might require the seized contraband. Certainly, the seized contraband must be preserved until the appeal is concluded, and if any future need for the contraband becomes evident in this appeal, this court has the authority to make specific directives dealing with such matters in its disposition. For the above reasons, I would proceed with the merits in this appeal and avoid any further, unnecessary delay.