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State v. Markham10/7/2004
This case involves a challenge to the circuit court's jurisdiction to enter a ruling on a posttrial motion in a criminal case, where the motion has been deemed denied under our rules. Appellee Carl Franklin Markham was convicted of driving while intoxicated, fifth offense, following a bench trial in the Pulaski County Circuit Court. He was sentenced by the court to one year imprisonment. He timely filed a posttrial motion for reconsideration. The trial court waited several months before eventually granting Markham's motion and entering an order acquitting him of the DWI charge. The State appeals the order of acquittal on the ground that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to grant the motion because it had already been deemed denied under Ark. R. Crim. P. 33.3(c). Markham has not filed a brief in response. We agree with the State that the trial court was without jurisdiction to rule on the posttrial motion once it had been deemed denied.
Before we turn to the merits of this case, we must determine whether this matter is properly before us. The issue raised by the State is one of law: Whether the trial court loses jurisdiction to act on a posttrial motion after it has been deemed denied under Rule 33.3(c). The State contends that this is an issue of legal significance involving the correct and uniform administration of the criminal law. It thus asserts that the appeal is proper under Ark. R. App. P.-Crim. 3(c).
Under Rule 3, the right of appeal by the State is limited. This court has consistently held that there is a significant difference between appeals brought by criminal defendants and those brought on behalf of the State. State v. Williams, 348 Ark. 585, 75 S.W.3d 684 (2002); State v. Pruitt, 347 Ark. 355, 64 S.W.3d 255 (2002). The former is a matter of right, whereas the latter is neither a matter of right, nor derived from the Constitution, but rather is only granted pursuant to the confines of Rule 3. Id. We accept appeals by the State when our holding would be important to the correct and uniform administration of the criminal law. State v. Warren, 345 Ark. 508, 49 S.W.3d 103 (2001); State v. Thompson, 343 Ark. 135, 34 S.W.3d 33 (2000); State v. Stephenson, 330 Ark. 594, 955 S.W.2d 518 (1997). As a matter of practice, this court has only taken appeals "which are narrow in scope and involve the interpretation of law." Id. at 595, 955 S.W.2d at 519 (quoting State v. Banks, 322 Ark. 344, 345, 909 S.W.2d 634, 635 (1995)). We do not permit State appeals merely to demonstrate the fact that the trial court erred. Id.
Thus, where an appeal does not present an issue of interpretation of the criminal rules with widespread ramifications, this court has held that such an appeal does not involve the correct and uniform administration of the law. Id. Similarly, where the resolution of the issue on appeal turns on the facts unique to the case or involves a mixed question of law and fact, the appeal is not one requiring interpretation of our criminal rules with widespread ramification, and the matter is not appealable by the State. Williams, 348 Ark. 585, 75 S.W.3d 684; State v. Guthrie, 341 Ark. 624, 19 S.W.3d 10 (2000). Finally, where an appeal raises an issue of the application, not interpretation, of a criminal rule or statutory provision, it does not involve the correct and uniform administration of the criminal law and is not appealable by the State under Rule 3. Id.
There is an alternative to an appeal under Rule 3, when, as in the present case, the State contends that the trial court acted without jurisdiction. In such a situation, this court may treat the State's appeal as a petition for a writ of certiorari, as was done in State v. Dawson, 343 Ark. 683, 38 S.W.3d 31
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