DONALD L. CORBIN, Associate Justice. Appellant, Amalie "Amy" E. Singletary (now Bishop), appeals the order of the Lonoke County Circuit Court awarding a change in custody of her minor daughter to her former husband, Appellee Joseph E. Singletary. For reversal, she contends that the circuit court erred in failing to consider her status as a custodial parent and in failing to apply the presumption announced in Hollandsworth v. Knyzewski, 353 Ark. 470, 109 S.W.3d 653 (2003) that relocation by...
COURTNEY HUDSON GOODSON, Justice. Appellant Talideen Davenport appeals the order entered by the Pulaski County Circuit Court denying his petition for postconviction relief under Rule 37.1 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure. For reversal of that decision, he contends that the circuit court erred by not finding that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object or secure his waiver when the circuit court, rather than the jury, imposed his sentences for a firearm enhancement...
CLIFF HOOFMAN, Associate Justice. This case involves a question of Arkansas law certified to this court by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in accordance with Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 6-8 (2013). On March 7, 2013, we accepted the certified question in Smith v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., 2013 Ark. 103. The certified question is as follows: Are employment-related retaliation claims under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act, Ark. Code Ann. 16-123-108, subject to...
PAUL E. DANIELSON, Associate Justice. Appellant Steve Rose appeals from the circuit court's order granting summary judgment to separate appellees Harbor East Property Owners Association ("the POA") and Recreational Management, Inc. ("Recreational"), and dismissing Rose's complaint for foreclosure with prejudice. On appeal, Rose asserts (1) that the POA and Recreational were estopped from collaterally attacking Rose's order of revivor because it was not void; (2) that the requirements of...
JOSEPHINE LINKER HART, Associate Justice. Appellant, Deborah Nowicki ("Nowicki"), individually and as executrix of the estate of Robert Henry Nowicki, II, deceased, and on behalf of all of the deceased's wrongful-death beneficiaries, appeals from the order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court granting summary judgment in favor of appellee Kenny Pigue. On appeal, Nowicki contends that the circuit court erroneously concluded that the Fireman's Rule barred the wrongful-death and survival action....
PAUL E. DANIELSON, Associate Justice. Appellant Mark David Johnson negotiated a plea of guilty in the instant case conditioned upon being sentenced by a jury. He now appeals his sentence to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for murder in the first degree, a term of thirty years' imprisonment for attempted murder in the first degree, and a term of twenty years' imprisonment for battery in the first degree. Johnson argues on appeal that the circuit court erred in admitting certain 404(b)...
KAREN R. BAKER, Associate Justice. On May 9, 2012, appellant, Billy Dale Green, was convicted by a Randolph County Circuit Court jury of four counts of capital murder and one count of kidnapping. Billy was sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the capital-murder convictions and forty years for the kidnapping conviction. 1 Billy's convictions and sentences are the result of his second trial. Billy's original convictions and sentences were reversed...
JIM HANNAH, Chief Justice. Appellant, Claude Graves, appeals the order of the Greene County Circuit Court denying his claim for reimbursement of expenses incurred while working as a constable and rejecting his claim that the Greene County ordinance setting constable salaries at $25 per month was arbitrary and capricious and therefore unconstitutional. We affirm the circuit court's order. On January 28, 2008, Graves was appointed Constable for the Shady Grove Township, Greene County, by...
DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice. Appellant, Davis Tillman, as special administrator of the estates of Rodney Nickle Tillman and Rebecca Ann Tillman, deceased, appeals the amended order of the Garland County Circuit Court granting summary judgment to Appellees, Raytheon Company, Hawker Beechcraft Corporation ("HBC"), Hawker Beechcraft Incorporated, and Beech Aircraft Corporation (collectively "the Beech defendants" or "Appellees"). For reversal, Appellant contends that there are genuine issues of...
KAREN R. BAKER, Justice. The present case stems from capitalmurder charges filed against Tony Bernard Smith in Phillips County, Arkansas, on July 15, 2011. On April 28, 2011, Michael Campbell was killed in an attempted aggravated robbery. On April 29, 2011, Smith was arrested in connection with Campbell's death, and has been detained in the Cross County jail since his arrest. 1 On July 15, 2011, Smith was charged with aggravated robbery and capital murder. On April 5, 2013, Elected...
CLIFF HOOFMAN, Justice. Appellant John Moix appeals from the circuit court's visitation order, which contained a provision prohibiting his long-term, domestic partner from being present during any overnight visitation with appellant's minor child. On appeal, appellant argues that the circuit court's order violated his state and federal constitutional rights to privacy and equal protection, and that the circuit court erred by finding that such a non-cohabitation restriction was required in...
KAREN R. BAKER, Associate Justice. Searcy Healthcare Center, LLC d/b/a Searcy Healthcare Center, Searcy HC Holdings, LLC, Perennial Business Services, LLC, Perennial Consulting Services, LLC, Perennial Leasing, LLC, SHC Properties, LLC, V. James Santarsiero, individually, and as governing body of Searcy Healthcare Center, Jeanne Butterworth, individually, and as governing body of Searcy Healthcare Center, and Pamela Murphy, in her capacity as administrator of Searcy Healthcare Center ("SHC"),...
PAUL E. DANIELSON, Associate Justice. Appellants Les Marlow, Brooks "Chip" Meadows, Cary Marlow, Chad Marlow, and Leigh Carson appeal an order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court granting appellee Glenn Petkovsek's motion for attorney's fees and costs. 1 Petkovsek was granted $164,758.90 for his defense in the lawsuit initiated by appellants. Appellants originally appealed the circuit court's order to our court of appeals, which affirmed. See Marlow v. United Sys. of Arkansas, Inc., 2013...
JIM HANNAH, Chief Justice. Petitioners, Pittman Moore, M.D.; Moore Surgical Arts & Gynecology, PLLC; The Moore Clinic for Women's Health, LLC; and Phillips Hospital Corporation d/b/a Helena Regional Medical Center, petition this court for a writ of prohibition or, in the alternative, a writ of certiorari, against the Phillips County Circuit Court. The petitioners contend that the circuit court asserted authority beyond its jurisdiction and committed a plain, clear, and gross abuse of...
JIM HANNAH, Chief Justice. Appellants, Opal and L.B. Corn, pursued a claim for underinsured motorist ("UIM") coverage against their insurer, appellee Farmers Insurance Co., Inc. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Farmers, finding that, based on both the exhaustion requirement of UIM coverage and the policy language, the Corns were not entitled to UIM benefits. We affirm. On March 3, 2008, Opal was driving on Interstate 540 in Rogers, with L.B. as her passenger, when she...
PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice. Appellant Shauna Chantel Yates McNutt appeals from the circuit court's order changing custody of the parties' minor children to appellee Matthew Dalton Yates. The court of appeals affirmed the circuit court's order in part and reversed and remanded in part in a 5-1 decision. See McNutt v. Yates, 2013 Ark.App. 307 , 427 S.W.3d 749 . Ms. McNutt petitioned this court for review, which we granted on July 25, 2013. When this court grants a petition for review, we...
COURTNEY HUDSON GOODSON, Justice. Pursuant to a certification under Rule 54(b) of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, appellant Ronnie Taylor, as special personal representative of the estate of L.C. Taylor, deceased, and on behalf of the wrongful-death beneficiaries of L.C. Taylor (Ronnie), appeals the orders entered by the Union County Circuit Court granting the motions to dismiss presented by appellees MCSA, LLC, d/b/a/ Medical Center of South Arkansas; Courtyard Rehabilitation and...
KAREN R. BAKER, Justice. This appeal stems from the death of L.C. Taylor and the appointment of a special personal representative of his estate. L.C. died on February 2, 2009. On March 16, 2009, the Union County Circuit Court — Probate Division appointed L.C.'s son, Bobby Taylor, special personal representative of the estate for the limited purpose of investigating and prosecuting all claims which the estate may pursue having arisen out of nursing-home abuse. On June 3, 2010, on behalf of...
CLIFF HOOFMAN, Associate Justice. In 2009, Appellant Michael Fields pled guilty to one count of rape in the Perry County Circuit Court and to an additional count of rape in the Conway County Circuit Court, for which he received a total of ten years' imprisonment. Fields subsequently filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in Hot Spring County, where he is currently incarcerated, and the circuit court denied his petition. On appeal, Fields argues that the circuit court erred in denying his...
KAREN R. BAKER, Justice. The Deer/Mt. Judea School District (DMJ) appeals from the decision of the Pulaski County Circuit Court. On appeal, DMJ asserts that the circuit court erred on three points: (1) in ruling that DMJ's claims were barred by res judicata; (2) in striking only the date ranges of section 31 of Act 269 of 2010; and (3) in striking its amended and supplemental complaint. Beebe and the other appellees ("Beebe") have also filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, which we ordered...
