Hall v. State
Hall v. State
Opinion of the Court
Cody Lamar Hall appeals his conviction by a Garland County jury of negligent homicide. His only argument on appeal is that the court violated his right to a bifurcated trial by denying his request to strike the word "feloniously" from the criminal information read to the jury. We affirm.
Hall was charged with negligent homicide based on the State's allegation that, at approximately 4:30 a.m. on January 5, 2015, the car Hall was driving veered over the center line of the road and collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle, causing the death of Jesse Wehling.
The court then read the charges in open court, prefacing each by saying that "[t]he defendant is charged ... with" before reading each count of the information. The court stated,
You are advised that what I have just read is an Information. An Information is [the] method by which a person is brought to trial. It is not evidence of guilt and must not be taken as such by you if you are selected as a juror. It is merely a step in the process of going to trial. The law presumes every person is innocent unless and until his guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt. Are you and each of you willing and able to give the Defendant the benefit of a *401doubt throughout the trial until and unless it is overcome?
The jury found Hall guilty of negligent homicide, a Class B felony, and not guilty of battery in the second degree. Hall was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction, and he filed a timely notice of appeal.
The purpose of voir dire is not to attempt to commit the jury to a decision in advance but to discover any basis for either party to exercise their for-cause and peremptory challenges. Watkins v. State ,
The extent and scope of voir dire is within the sound discretion of the court. Watkins ,
Hall's sole argument on appeal is that the circuit court violated his right to a bifurcated trial pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-97-101 (Repl. 2016) when it included the word "feloniously" in its description of the charges read during voir dire. He argues that the word "feloniously" indicates that the alleged crime is a felony and that felonies are differentiated from misdemeanors based on the length of potential imprisonment, so the court's instruction improperly indicated to the jury the potential sentencing range during the guilt phase of the proceedings.
We disagree. First, it is a stretch to assume that jurors would infer a specific sentencing range from the use of the word "feloniously" in describing the charges against Hall. Moreover, our rules of criminal procedure require the court to advise the jury of the nature of the crime. Ark. R. Crim. P. 32.2(a)(iv) (2017). In Watkins ,
Based on our standard of review, we cannot reverse unless the circuit court abused its discretion by acting arbitrarily or groundlessly. Gay ,
Affirmed.
Abramson and Glover, JJ., agree.
Because Hall does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him, we need not discuss in detail the evidence presented at trial.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.