DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice. Petitioner April Forrester, individually and as a representative of all similarly situated voter-citizens of Arkansas, brings the instant original action challenging the sufficiency and validity of the proposed ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment, identified as Issue No. 2, which is currently set to be voted upon by the citizens of this state at the November 2, 2010 general election. 1 Petitioner requests injunctive relief and also seeks a writ of...
PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice. Appellant McLane Southern, Inc., appeals from the circuit court's order affirming certain opinions of appellee Arkansas Tobacco Control Board ("the Board") and denying McLane declaratory relief. McLane urges eight points on appeal, 1 specifically, that (1) the Board's Opinion 2007-003 regarding patronage dividends was arbitrary and capricious; (2) the circuit court erred in refusing to grant declaratory relief on its claim that patronage dividends constituted...
ROBERT L. BROWN, Justice. On appeal, the appellant, Southwestern Energy Production Company ("Southwestern Energy"), asks this court to affirm the circuit court's order regarding Sections 8, 9, and 31; reverse the circuit court's order regarding Sections 4 and 5; and modify the order to begin the suspension of drilling obligations from the date of the filing of the complaint. On cross-appeal, the Elkinses ask this court to reverse the circuit court's order as to Sections 8 and 9 and affirm the...
DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice. Appellants, The Ralph Loyd Martin Revocable Trust Declaration Dated The First Day Of April 1994; Ralph Loyd Martin, Trustee Of The Ralph Loyd Martin Revocable Trust Declaration Dated The First Day Of April 1994; The Festus Mary Martin Revocable Trust Declaration Dated The First Day Of April 1994; and Festus Mary Martin, Trustee Of The Festus Mary Martin Revocable Trust Declaration Dated The First Day Of April 1994 (collectively, "the Martin Trusts"), appeal the order...
DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice. Appellant Roger Schubert appeals the order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court directing a verdict in favor of Appellee Target Stores, Inc. On appeal, Schubert asserts that the circuit court erred in determining that there was not sufficient evidence to submit to the jury the issue of whether Target's negligence caused Schubert's injuries. As this is a subsequent appeal, our jurisdiction is pursuant to Ark. Sup.Ct. R. 1-2(a)(7) (2010). We find no error and affirm....
JIM HANNAH, Chief Justice. Appellants Karen Dowty and Karen Dowty and Alvis Eugene Dowty, Sr. ("Gene"), as next friends of Riggs Dowty, a minor, appeal from an order of summary judgment entered against them in their suit against appellee Evelyn Riggs to recover damages for negligence and for negligent infliction of emotional distress. On appeal, appellants contend that the circuit court erred in granting Evelyn's motion for summary judgment because a genuine issue of fact remains as to whether...
ROBERT L. BROWN, Justice. Marlene Seratt, Mark Seratt, Aurora Cortez, and Dan McMillan (respondents) were all employed by Pharmerica, Inc., a pharmaceutical distribution business that leased property at 614 N. Second Street in Rogers from the Patsy Simmons Limited Partnership. On or about June 8, 2005, it was discovered that the water heater unit was not installed properly, causing inadequate ventilation and leading to the accumulation of toxic levels of carbon monoxide inside the premises....
PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice. Appellant Kevin Ray Pearcy appeals from the judgment and commitment order of the Garland County Circuit Court finding him guilty of capital murder and sentencing him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Pearcy argues on appeal that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict; and (2) the circuit court erred in admitting certain photos into evidence. We find no error and affirm. The relevant facts are these. On August 11, 2008,...
DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice. Appellant SubTeach USA appeals the decision of the Arkansas Board of Review finding that Appellee LaJuanda Coleman was eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. The Board's decision affirmed findings and conclusions of the Appeal Tribunal and the Department of Workforce Services that Coleman's employer was not an educational institution, and therefore she did not meet the requirements of the between-terms exclusion from benefits for services performed in an...
ELANA CUNNINGHAM WILLS, Justice. This is an appeal from an order of the Union County Circuit Court affirming a decision by the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission (PC & E or "the Commission") that approved the issuance of a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). The appellants are the State of Louisiana, 1 the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), and Save the Ouachita and Kent Stegall (...
DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice. Appellant Larry Eugene Barker appeals the order of the Baxter County Circuit Court denying his petition for writ of error coram nobis. On appeal, Barker asserts first that this matter should be remanded to the circuit court for a new hearing on his petition because part of the transcript from the previous motion is not included in the record. Alternatively, he argues that the circuit court erred in denying his petition, as he demonstrated that the State withheld...
RONALD L. SHEFFIELD, Justice. The appellant in the instant case, Baptist Health (Baptist), appeals from the following three orders: (1) a February 2, 2009 order for permanent injunction; (2) an April 13, 2009 judgment entered in favor of the appellees; and (3) an August 14, 2009 order awarding $2305.88 in costs to the appellees. On appeal, Baptist contends that the circuit judge erred in holding that the appellees proved by a preponderance of the evidence their tortious interference and...
PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice. Appellants Monticello Healthcare Center, LLC d/b/a Monticello Healthcare Center; Perennial Healthcare Management, LLC; Perennial Leaseholdings 6, LLC; Perennial Health Care Holdings, LLC; V. James Santarsiero; Sharon Drake, in her capacity as administrator of Monticello Healthcare Center; John Doe I; John Doe II; John Doe III; John Doe IV; and John Doe V (hereinafter collectively "MHC") interlocutorily appeal three separate orders of the circuit court in a medical-...
JIM HANNAH, Chief Justice. Appellant James Clemons was convicted by a Union County jury of the capital murder of Billy Ponder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal, Clemons contends that the circuit court (1) erred in denying his motion for directed verdict because the State failed to prove by substantial evidence that he committed capital murder, (2) abused its discretion in refusing to allow testimony about a letter written by a jailhouse informant...
ELANA CUNNINGHAM WILLS, Justice. Appellant Lorie Johnson appeals from the Johnson County Circuit Court's order granting appellee Tomas Dawson's motion for summary judgment, vacating the judgment of the district court, and dismissing Johnson's case against Dawson with prejudice. This appeal requires the interpretation of the amendments to Arkansas District Court Rule 9 that became effective on January 1, 2009. Our jurisdiction is therefore proper pursuant to Ark. Sup.Ct. R. 1-2(b)(6). Johnson...
JIM GUNTER, Justice. Appellant appeals the circuit court's grant of appellee's motion for sanctions, in which the court struck appellant's answer and declared a default judgment in favor of appellee on the issue of liability. On appeal, appellant asserts that the court erred because (1) Judge Simes had no authority to enter the strike order; (2) the order compelling discovery was deficient on its face and could not serve as a basis for sanctions; (3) the order compelling discovery was entered...
ROBERT L. BROWN, Justice. The appellants in this case are people who had lawsuits filed against them in an effort to recover debts allegedly owed by them to certain creditors. These underlying lawsuits were brought by the appellee, Hosto & Buchan, PLLC ("H&B"), a law firm, on behalf of various clients. According to the appellants, H&B filed suit against appellant William G. Born on October 3, 2008, on behalf of Atlantic Credit & Finance 8 ("Atlantic Credit"); appellant Barbara Johnson in March...
PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice. Appellants Carol Walker, individually and on behalf of her minor children Rachel Walker, James Walker, and Heather Walker; Patrick O'Bryant and Tawnya O'Bryant, husband and wife, individually and on behalf of their minor children Christopher O'Bryant and Sean O'Bryant; Jerry Ferguson, individually and on behalf of his minor children Kole Ferguson, Kerra Ferguson, and Kannon Ferguson; and Keli Waggoner, individually and on behalf of her minor children Jaycee Waggoner...
JIM GUNTER, Justice. This appeal involves an oil and gas lease that extends by production. Chesapeake Exploration, LLC; Chesapeake Exploration, Limited Partnership; and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (collectively hereinafter referred to as "Chesapeake"), as lessee, maintains that its lease with Shelia and Danny Snowden was extended pursuant to the terms of the lease itself and by the application of Ark.Code Ann. 15-73-201 (Repl.2009). This issue was fully briefed in cross-motions for summary...
RONALD L. SHEFFIELD, Justice. Appellant Melvin Lockhart III was convicted by a Pulaski County jury of capital murder in the death of David Edward Jones. He was also convicted of theft of property. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction for the capital-murder conviction and sentenced to fifteen years for the theft-of-property conviction, with an enhancement of an additional fifteen years for the use of a firearm. These sentences were to be served...
