Arkansas Criminal Appeals

It was the theme of the day over at the Court of Appeals today:  Affirmed.  The Court did not reverse any cases this week.  This is their first week of decisions after the summer hiatus.  The Court probably decided to get the easiest decisions out-of-the-way this week as they get back into the swing of things.  They handled a few easy sufficiency arguments today in Cash and Evans. 

The only substantive decision today was in Kellar.  In Kellar the appellant argued that a misdemeanor conviction was erroneously allowed into evidence during his sentencing hearing.  Appellant argued that he was not represented by counsel in the misdemeanor case; therefore, it could not be allowed into evidence.  The Court of Appeals ruled that it was not being admitted to prove an habitual allegation; therefore, whether the appellant was represented by counsel was irrelevant.