LARRY D. VAUGHT , Judge . Appellant Vijay Patel appeals the Garland County Circuit Court's judgment awarding appellee Yogin Patel 1 $130,000 on an unpaid promissory note, post judgment interest, and attorney's fees. On appeal, Vijay argues that the circuit court erred by (1) finding that the handwritten agreement represented a binding contract, (2) applying a five-year statute of limitations, (3) failing to give Vijay credit for loans paid to Yogin throughout the 1990s, and (4) granting...
KENNETH S. HIXSON , Judge . Appellant Amanda Miller appeals from the termination of her parental rights to her three daughters, A.C., age ten, E.M., age six, and N.M., age two. 1 On appeal, Amanda argues that there was insufficient evidence to support any of the statutory grounds for termination. We affirm. We review termination of parental rights cases de novo. Mitchell v. Ark. Dep't of Human Sen's., 2013 Ark.App. 715 , 430 S.W.3d 851 . At least one statutory ground must exist, in...
M. MICHAEL KINARD , Judge . Appellant Tim Caldwell appeals from the judgment entered in favor of Columbia Mutual Insurance Company rescinding Caldwell's insurance policy. Caldwell argues that it was error for the trial court to rescind the policy based on material misrepresentations in his application. Columbia Mutual cross-appeals. We affirm on direct appeal; the cross-appeal is moot. On June 11, 1998, Caldwell submitted an application for homeowner's insurance to Smith Insurance Agency....
RITA W. GRUBER , Judge . Appellant, Israel Todd Watson, was convicted by a jury of ten counts of rape for engaging in deviate sexual activity with a ten-year-old girl, AS. 1 All of appellant's points on appeal concern the testimony of a woman who claimed that appellant had raped her when she was a child. The court admitted the testimony over appellant's objection, finding that it fit within the pedophile exception to Arkansas Rule of Evidence 404(b). Appellant also objected to a statement...
DAVID M. GLOVER , Judge . Katherine Velasco's parental rights to her four children, A.B. (dob 11/14/04), A.V. (dob 2/1/06), M.M.V. (dob 8/24/07), and M.A.V. (dob 12/27/11), were terminated by the Pulaski County Circuit Court. 1 Ms. Velasco now appeals the termination. We affirm the trial court's decision. On August 22, 2014, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) exercised a seventy-two-hour hold on the children after the Pulaski County Narcotics Unit executed a search warrant on...
BRANDON J. HARRISON , Judge . In February 2015 the White County Circuit Court found Jeff Van Runsick and Tonya Runsick to be the owners of a certain mineral interest, granted reformation of a correction deed, and awarded attorney fees following a bench trial. Kenneth and Gloria Elsleger appeal the circuit court's decision. Because we hold that the circuit court erred by going beyond the scope of the legal purpose that a correction deed serves by adding a mineral reservation or exception, we...
PHILLIP T. WHITEAKER , Judge . This is an appeal of an order terminating parental rights from the Garland County Circuit Court. This is the second time that this court has heard this matter. In the first appeal, counsel for Appellant Jennifer Brown filed a motion to be relieved from representation and a no-merit brief pursuant to Linker-Flores v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 359 Ark. 131 , 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004) and Rule 6-9(i) of the Rules of the Arkansas Supreme Court and...
RAYMOND R. ABRAMSON , Judge . This appeal stems from divorce proceedings of Stephanie (Quinn) Branch and James (Jimmy) Branch. On appeal, we are tasked with resolving issues related to the validity and enforceability of the parties' premarital agreement, as well as issues regarding property division. However, we cannot reach the merits of this appeal because of a deficient Rule 54(b) certificate. Quinn and Jimmy Branch were married on July 25, 2003. They executed a premarital agreement...
KENNETH S. HIXSON , Judge . In this environmental-law case, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality ("ADEQ") issued a permit allowing appellee Big River Steel, LLC ("BRS") to build and operate a new steel mill in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Appellants Nucor Steel-Arkansas and Nucor-Yamato Steel Company (collectively, "Nucor"), who also own steel mills in Mississippi County, opposed the permit and appealed ADEQ's decision to the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission ("...
BART F. VIRDEN , Judge . Jack Gillean was convicted in the Faulkner County Circuit Court of six counts of commercial burglary after a trial by jury. He was sentenced to three years in the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) and was ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 on count I; on counts II-VI he was sentenced to ten years of probation on each count, and he was ordered to pay fines totaling $25,000. I. Facts In the summer of 2010, Jack Gillean, former Chief of Staff of the University...
ROBERT J. GLADWIN , Chief Judge . Bob Derrick appeals the Sebastian County Circuit Court's June 2, 2015 order denying his complaint against appellees Juanita Derrick, Sarah Jane Jones, and John Derrick Jones for unjust enrichment. He argues that the trial court's decision was clearly erroneous. We affirm. Appellee Juanita Derrick deeded the property at issue, 143 acres in Greenwood, Arkansas, to her three grandchildren, leaving herself a life estate. Appellees Sarah and John Jones, two of...
CLIFF HOOFMAN , Judge . Appellant American Express Bank, FSB ("AmEx"), appeals from the circuit court's award of $30,597.50 in attorney's fees to appellees David Davenport and Modawg Cycles, Inc. (collectively, "Davenport"), in AmEx's suit to recover $13,901.46 in credit-card debt. On appeal, AmEx argues that the circuit court abused its discretion in determining that Davenport was the prevailing party in the suit, as he had failed to recover on any of his counterclaims. We are unable to...
BART F. VIRDEN , Judge . Anita E. Gladden and Allen H. Gladden, husband and wife and as co-trustees of the Anita E. Gladden Trust (collectively, the Gladdens), bring this appeal from the order of the Garland County Circuit Court awarding summary judgment to Mark McClure and Kim McClure that rescinded a real-estate-purchase contract and awarded damages and attorney's fees. The Gladdens also appeal from a separate order that set aside a county court order that had vacated a road adjacent...
CLIFF HOOFMAN , Judge . Appellant Unifirst Corporation appeals from the January 29, 2015 judgment filed by the Sebastian County Circuit Court. On appeal, appellant contends that the circuit court abused its discretion when it ordered appellant to pay attorney's fees after appellant voluntarily nonsuited its motion to vacate the arbitration award. Specifically, appellant argues that (1) the circuit court effectively ruled on the merits when determining that appellee, Ludwig Properties, Inc.,...
PHILLIP T. WHITEAKER , Judge . Adrianne O'Neal appeals a Pulaski County Circuit Court order declaring her a tenant in common with Ethel Love and quieting title to certain real property in Pulaski County, Arkansas. Ethel Love cross-appeals that same order. Because the trial court committed an error of law in declaring the parties to be tenants in common and in quieting title in both parties, we reverse and remand for reconsideration, on both direct and cross-appeal, the order quieting title....
M. MICHAEL KINARD , Judge . The central issue in this appeal is whether Rhea Belk validly executed deeds to convey approximately 167 acres of real property in Perry County, Arkansas. Rhea Belk executed a last will and testament naming the appellant, Anna Belk, as a beneficiary entitled to a portion of the disputed property. After the execution of her will, Rhea deeded the property to her son, William, and after William's death, she participated in the execution of deeds that transferred the...
ROBERT J. GLADWIN , Chief Judge . Appellant Carlos Renee Johnson appeals from a Sebastian County Circuit Court conviction on a charge of second-degree battery, for which he was sentenced to 120 months' imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction and fined $5000. On appeal, he argues that the circuit court erred by denying him the right to self-representation under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We reverse and remand for a new trial based on the State's...
LARRY D. VAUGHT , Judge . Appellant Autumn Vogel appeals the termination of her parental rights to her son B.H. (born December 9, 2013). On appeal, Autumn argues that (1) her due-process rights were violated when the circuit court held the termination hearing in her absence and without her participation by phone or other remote means, (2) her appointed attorney's failure to insist on her presence at the hearing or require proof of personal service upon Autumn amounted to ineffective...
DAVID M. GLOVER , Judge . Appellants Bobby H. Weatherford, Rebecca S. Downing, and Terry K. Weatherford (collectively "Weatherfords") appeal the White County Circuit Court's decision denying their petition to confirm and quiet title in 1.37 acres by either adverse possession or boundary by acquiescence. We dismiss this appeal because we do not have a final, appealable order. The Weatherfords filed their petition to confirm and quiet title in March 2009 against appellees Arkansas...
RITA W. GRUBER , Judge . Appellants, Crystal Wilson and Alan Allred, appeal from an order of the Bradley County Circuit Court terminating their parental rights to their son, S.A., born March 3, 2013. Crystal also appeals from the circuit court's termination of her parental rights to her children J.M., born December 19, 2006, and D.M., born June 8, 2010. They contend on appeal that the evidence was insufficient to support the circuit court's decision with respect to both the court's...
