349 results for 'court:"Arkansas Court Of Appeals"'.
J. Thyer finds the circuit court properly terminated the father’s parental rights to two of his five children, others having been successfully placed in foster care. After a caseworker was unable to locate one of the children, the state human services agency filed a petition for dependency-neglect for all of the children. The father was not compliant with drug and alcohol testing, or other aspects of the reunification plan. He was also not compliant with the permanency planning order entered after he had been found non-compliant with reunification. His lack of compliance has been consistent over a period of four years. His dishonesty and only recent attempts at sobriety support the court’s best interest finding. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thyer, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CV-23-6, Categories: Family Law, Guardianship
J. Wood finds the circuit court properly found that the daughter breached her fiduciary duty as guardian of her mother. The daughter served as co-trustee with her mother over a trust benefiting the mother and of which the daughter was the sole beneficiary at the mother’s death. The daughter failed to prove that the source of the mother’s personal funds transferred into the trust was the trust itself. The daughter admitted transferring all of the funds in her mother’s personal accounts totaling over $1 million into the trust. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wood, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CV-20-555, Categories: Trusts, Wills / Probate, Fiduciary Duty
J. Virden finds the trial court improperly convicted defendant for DWI and refusal to submit to a chemical test. The arresting officer testified as to the results of a breathalyzer test, which was inadmissible. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Virden, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CR-22-452, Categories: Evidence, Dui
J. Barrett finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for false imprisonment, battery and assault. Defendant hit the victim with the butt of his unloaded rifle when he didn’t comply with orders to “get on the ground” after he was discovered having stolen defendant’s truck. Defendant claims that the evidence supports only third-degree battery and says that his felony battery conviction is inconsistent with one for misdemeanor assault. Defendant did not move for a directed verdict or dismissal at the conclusion of the evidence and has not preserved this sufficiency-of-evidence challenge. His argument that it was undisputed that he believed he was acting justifiably was never made in a motion to dismiss, so is not preserved. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Barrett, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CR-22-734, Categories: Evidence, Assault, Battery
J. Brown finds the trial court properly granted summary judgment to the redevelopment authority in this suit brought by the purchasers on fraud and breach of contract claims as to the sale, leasing and general repurposing of surplus military base land. The representation made by the trust regarding plans for the land as a historic area were expressions of opinion or predictions of future events, not misrepresentations of material fact. The purchasers failed to provide sufficient evidence that the trust knew the representations to be false at the time they were made, and so the “Delta” exception is inapplicable. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CV-21-247, Categories: Fraud, Property, Contract
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J. Gruber finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for two counts of aggravated robbery and theft of property, with firearm sentencing enhancements. Two female pizza shop workers sat in their car after closing when they were robbed at gunpoint by a man who had arrived to the parking lot in a brown SUV. After he left, the women called 911, and when officers arrived, they took them to a location where the perpetrator had already been apprehended. The women ID’d him and his SUV. Surveillance video, as well as other eyewitness accounts supports the proof of defendant’s identity. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gruber, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CR-23-5, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Robbery
J. Gladwin finds the circuit court improperly ruled that a mortgage foreclosure was barred by the five-year statute of limitations. A cited case does not conflict with laws surround foreclosure limitations. It addresses only the point at which a foreclosure claim accrues — at the maturity of the debt — and not when the statute of limitations, once the cause of action has accrued, stops running. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gladwin, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CV-20-508, Categories: Banking / Lending, Foreclosure
J. Harrison finds the trial court properly convicted defendant of sexual assault of his minor daughter. Defendant says the court improperly denied his motions for mistrial arising from reference to defendant’s illegal immigration status after the court had barred such inquiry. The defense had elicited testimony of defendant’s truthful nature from a former employer, which was countered by the prosecutor’s evoking of the immigration status. The court ordered the prosecutor to ask no more questions on the subject and the defense did not ask for a jury admonition. Defendant suffered no prejudice and the sentence of 12 months of probation shows this. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harrison, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CR-22-341, Categories: Sex Offender, Due Process, Child Victims
J. Gruber finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for residential burglary under a theory of accomplice liability, sentencing him to 15 years’ imprisonment. The victim was shot and killed in front of his wife and children during an attempted burglary of drugs committed by a group of men which included defendant. Defendant has not established that allegedly undisclosed evidence noted in his post-trial discovery motion would have altered the outcome. His claims of verdict inconsistency between the charges of murder and burglary are not preserved. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gruber, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CR-22-453, Categories: Burglary, Evidence, Accomplice Liability
J. Virden finds the circuit court improperly terminated the father’s parental rights. Investigation of a report that the parents were leaving their minor children in a rented room with no supervision yielded the father’s claim that he was working when the mother left the children alone. DHS then exercised a hold on the children. The record contains little detail, with no documentation of the father’s progress or compliance from the time of removal until the permanency-planning hearing when the court found he was making progress and working toward reunification. In the absence of proof of other factors, termination is clearly erroneous. Credibility findings on the father are insufficient for termination. Reversed and remanded. There is a dissenting opinion.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Virden, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: CV-22-666, Categories: Family Law, Due Process, Guardianship
J. Brown finds the circuit court properly granted summary judgment to the water authority in this wrongful termination suit. No genuine issue of material fact exists in relation to the former employee’s claims under the Arkansas Whistleblower Act or the Arkansas Civil Rights Act. The employee failed to refute the evidence that he was terminated for the legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons of failing to meet expectations and for insubordination and harassment. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CV-21-252, Categories: Evidence, Employment Retaliation
J. Barrett finds the trial court improperly dismissed the wife’s divorce, paternity and child custody complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The parents are legal, seasonal migrant workers and Mexican citizens. The circuit court had entered an order for emergency custody on allegations that the husband had left the children alone in a hot car while he worked, intending to abscond with them. Arkansas is not the family’s legal home, though it is uncontroverted that the children have not lived in Mexico for six consecutive months for the past two years and were not living in Mexico when this case was initiated. The circuit court failed to determine if Mexico or any other state was a home state for the children. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Barrett, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CV-22-641, Categories: Family Law, Immigration, International Law
J. Virden finds the trial court improperly entered summary judgment in favor of certain tenants who claim the apartment management breached lease agreement covenants, creating and maintaining “a [mold] nuisance in the common areas of the apartment complex.” There is no evidence on record that three tenants in this suit paid rent, signed a lease or otherwise could state a claim. As to other, valid tenants, previous holdings by the Arkansas Court of Appeals have established that a circuit court errs when it grants summary judgment on a breach-of-contract claim when proof of causation was lacking. Nominal damages may be recovered “for a breach of contract unaccompanied by any actual damage,” according to prior guiding cases, which is sufficient to preclude summary judgment. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part and remanded.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Virden, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CV-20-628, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Damages, Contract
J. Thyer finds the circuit court properly found the decedent’s illegitimate daughter to be an undisputed heir to his estate. The 180-day time limit for the daughter to file a claim was satisfied because the power of attorney acknowledging decedent’s paternity was executed prior to his death. She asserted a claim in a court of competent jurisdiction, satisfying a qualifying condition of the relevant statute. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thyer, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CV-22-270, Categories: Wills / Probate, Due Process
J. Gruber finds the circuit court properly granted summary judgment to the niece who had alleged that her aunt breached multiple duties as the sole trustee of two educational trusts. The niece argues that the order does not specifically mention pre- or postjudgment interest, but that the interest rate is part of the order directing the trustee to comply, stating that the trustee must transfer $250,000, “valued at the day of grantor’s death.” The trustee never argued a specific rate should be applied. The court did not err as a matter of law in ordering the trustee to transfer the amount plus interest at 6% per annum from the date of the grandmother’s death. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gruber, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CV-21-35, Categories: Trusts, Wills / Probate, Contract
J. Gladwin finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated assault on a family member, domestic battery and endangering the welfare of a minor. Though defendant says he was trying to keep his daughter from leaving the house in the middle of the night, she testified that he, while drunk, came into her room as she was sleeping and started an argument. He began throwing lamps, then choked her. She ran out of the house and he and his dog chased her down. He again choked her as she attempted to flee. Home security video confirmed these events. Defendant claims that an evidence rule was used contrary to jury instruction, but his argument is not preserved for appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gladwin, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CR-22-773, Categories: Assault, Domestic Violence, Jury Instructions
J. Hixson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated assault on a family or household member, terroristic threatening and domestic battering. His wife testified that he choked her unconscious for being unable to find him a pair of socks, stating during the attack that he would kill her and their son if she left him. After the attack defendant would not let her leave the house with both children at the same time. In his motion for directed verdict, defendant’s counsel stated, “On the charge of domestic battery … there’s been insufficient evidence … to show that [defendant] caused … injury” to the victim intentionally.He fails to argue that his proposed “extreme stress” negated purposeful intent. This argument is also conclusory and without citation to supporting authority. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hixson, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CR-22-258, Categories: Evidence, Assault, Domestic Violence
J. Klappenbach finds the trial court improperly dismissed the counterclaim filed by the citizen seeking a declaration of rights to an implied easement of pedestrian ingress and egress over the property at question in this imminent domain action. The counterclaim was wrongly dismissed as untimely. Whether it existed at the time the citizens filed their answer or after, the relevant rule of civil procedure permits filing beyond the 30-day limit for filing an answer. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Klappenbach, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CV-22-166, Categories: Property, Due Process
J. Thyer finds the trial court improperly convicted defendant for possession of meth and marijuana with the purpose to deliver, improperly denying his motion for directed verdict. The investigating officer testified that he found the drugs in a truck parked near where defendant was sleeping and that he had seen defendant driving it earlier and “believed” it to be defendant’s. The truck’s doors were unlocked, the windows were rolled down, it was parked close to the road and no keys were found. There is no evidence that the truck or the drugs were ever in defendant’s exclusive possession. Reversed and dismissed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thyer, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: CR-22-644, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence