Court Opinion

ID: 9763992
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:06:16.623007+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:52.131301
License: Public Domain

Annabelle Clinton Imber, Justce, concurring. I agree ice, majority’s holding that the Lincoln County Circuit Court, not being the sentencing court, is wholly without jurisdiction to hear and decide Mr. Armstrong’s Rule 37 petition for postconviction relief under the clear terms of that Rule. Nothing more need be said. However, the majority goes on to address Mr. Armstrong’s contention that the Cleveland County-Circuit Court in the Thirteenth Judicial District did not have subject-matter jurisdiction to hear the Lincoln County charges under the Arkansas Constitution, state statutes, and this court’s case law. I do not believe that it is necessary to address this contention in order to resolve the issue presented by the State’s petition for writ of prohibition, that is whether the Lincoln County Circuit Court has jurisdiction to hear and decide Mr. Armstrong’s Rule 37 petition. Whether or not the Cleveland County Circuit Court had subject-matter jurisdiction to hear the Lincoln County charges has no impact on our decision in this matter. If we were to conclude that the Cleveland County Circuit Court had jurisdiction to hear the Lincoln County charges, then the Cleveland County Circuit Court would be the sentencing court under Rule 37. On the other hand, if we were to conclude that Cleveland County Circuit had no such jurisdiction, as the majority suggests, there would be no sentencing court for the Lincoln County charges. In either event, the Lincoln County Circuit Court has no jurisdiction to hear and decide Mr. Armstrong’s Rule 37 petition. Furthermore, by addressing Mr. Armstrong’s contention that the Cleveland County Circuit Court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to hear the Lincoln County charges, the majority prematurely decides the merits of his Rule 37 petition. We should refrain from going beyond the State’s petition for a writ of prohibition against the Lincoln County Circuit Court. For these reasons, I concur with the majority in granting the petition for writ of prohibition under the express terms of Rule 37, but I do not join in the majority’s unnecessary and premature resolution of the Cleveland County Circuit Court’s jurisdiction to hear the Lincoln County charges. Smith, J., joins in this concurrence.