Dixon v. State, CR

Citation863 S.W.2d 282,314 Ark. 378
Decision Date11 October 1993
Docket NumberNo. CR,CR
PartiesWillie DIXON, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 93-493.
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas

Robert P. Remet, Star City, for appellant.

Kent G. Holt, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

DUDLEY, Justice.

Appellant was arrested on September 6, 1988, and was thereafter charged with four felonies. He was not tried until October 6, 1992, over four years later. At that time he moved to dismiss the charges for lack of a speedy trial. The trial court denied the motion. Appellant appeals. We affirm the judgment of conviction for failure to comply with Rule 4-2(a)(6) of the Rules of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

The abstract reflects that shortly after his arrest, appellant requested time to obtain counsel, and then failed to appear for trial. A bench warrant was issued. About two years passed before he was re-arrested and again released. He again failed to appear, but was subsequently arrested on additional charges. He requested another continuance, and still later his case was continued because of docket congestion. He then filed a motion asking for a dismissal for lack of a speedy trial. The trial court heard arguments and apparently examined the docket sheet and various orders and denied the motion to dismiss.

Appellant's abstract does not summarize the proof at that hearing, nor does it summarize the findings of fact by the trial court, nor does it summarize the written order, if any, by the trial court. We cannot know, without examining the transcript, the periods of time that the trial court found to be excluded. In sum, we have no way of knowing whether the trial court erred without examining the transcript. As we have often pointed out, there is only one transcript and there are seven judges on this court, and it is impossible for each of the seven judges to examine the one transcript. Kitchen v. State, 271 Ark. 1, 607 S.W.2d 345 (1980). We are hesitant to affirm a criminal case for failure to comply with Rule 4-2, but we must do so in this case because the abstract wholly omits the hearing and ruling on the motion that is the basis of the appeal.

Affirmed.

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11 cases
  • Robinson v. State
    • United States
    • Arkansas Supreme Court
    • April 18, 2002
    ...for each of the seven judges to examine the one transcript. Franklin v. State, 318 Ark. 99, 884 S.W.2d 246 (1994); Dixon v. State, 314 Ark. 378, 863 S.W.2d 282 (1993). Bunn, 320 Ark. at 524-525, 898 S.W.2d 450. Bunn is particularly important because the issue there was the abstracting of a ......
  • Muldrow v. Douglass, 93-719
    • United States
    • Arkansas Supreme Court
    • February 21, 1994
    ...the record is not abstracted such as the judgment, the will at issue, a pertinent jury instruction, or testimony. See Dixon v. State, 314 Ark. 378, 863 S.W.2d 282 (1993) (hearing, findings of fact, and orders not abstracted); Davis v. Peebles, 313 Ark. 654, 857 S.W.2d 825 (1993) (pleadings,......
  • Winters v. Elders, 95-1069
    • United States
    • Arkansas Supreme Court
    • April 29, 1996
    ...transcript. Bunn v. State, 320 Ark. 516, 898 S.W.2d 450 (1995); Franklin v. State, 318 Ark. 99, 884 S.W.2d 246 (1994); Dixon v. State, 314 Ark. 378, 863 S.W.2d 282 (1993). A second deficiency in Winters' appeal is that a copy of the chancellor's letter opinion does not appear in the record.......
  • Adc v. Hobbs, 5:13CV00161 JLH/JTR
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas
    • June 5, 2014
    ...331 Ark. 418, 419, 962 S.W.2d 352, 354 (Ark. 1998), and restricts review "to the record as abstracted in the briefs." Dixon v. State, 314 Ark. 378, 378-79, 863 S.W.2d 282, 282 (Ark. 2003) (deficient abstract of proceedings precludes appellate review.).13. A petition for rehearing "may not s......
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