The opinion
Cite as 2025 Ark. App. 53
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION IV
No. CV-23-579
Opinion Delivered January 29, 2025
JASPER WISELEY
APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE BENTON COUNTY
CIRCUIT COURT
V. [NO. 04PR-21-884]
WARREN COINER HONORABLE CHRISTINE HORWART,
APPELLEE JUDGE
REBRIEFING ORDERED
WAYMOND M. BROWN, Judge
In this probate action, appellant Jasper Wiseley appeals the order of the Benton County
Circuit Court denying his petition for declaratory judgment relating to ownership of certain real
property. We do not reach the merits of Wiseley’s arguments at this time and order rebriefing.
Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 4-2(a)(6) provides:
The appellant’s brief shall contain a concise statement of the case and the facts without
argument. The statement shall identify and discuss all material factual and procedural
information contained in the record on appeal. Information in the appellate record is material
if the information is essential to understand the case and to decide the issues on appeal. All
material information must be supported by citations to the pages of the appellate record
where the information can be found.
Wiseley’s statement of the case is not compliant with Rule 4-2(a)(6) because he has injected
arguments and conclusory declarations throughout the statement. For example, Wiseley’s statement
of the case makes the following assertions: “Appellee should be estopped from claiming a right to
possess and sell the property as part of the Estate of George Andrew Coiner[,]” and “The Agreement
is evidence not only by the above-described conveyance but also by [Wiseley’s] and the decedent’s
performance of the Agreement.” Indeed, nearly the entire statement of the case is composed of
conclusory statements, such as “[Wiseley] has the right to possess the property . . .” followed by the
evidence that aims to prove the aforementioned conclusory statement: “this is evidenced by. . . .”
Further, in the order appealed from, the circuit court found “that there is no property in the 20570
Coiner Trust because the deed that purports to transfer the property into the trust does not do so.”
Despite the court’s finding, Wiseley’s statement of the case begins by stating affirmatively that “[t]he
property is an asset of the 20570 Coiner Trust.” This statement is not factual and is a question at the
heart of the issues on appeal. Because the statement of the case is rife with argument, it violates our
rules.
Wiseley has failed to provide a compliant statement of the case and factual information
necessary to understand the case and decide the issues on appeal. Because of the mandatory language
used by the supreme court in Rule 4-2, we cannot overlook the failure to comply with the rule.
Accordingly, we order Wiseley to file a substituted brief curing any deficiencies within thirty days
from the date of this opinion. The list of deficiencies we have noted is not to be taken as exhaustive,
and we encourage Wiseley’s counsel to carefully examine the record and review our rules before
resubmitting a brief. Upon the filing of a substituted brief, Coiner will have thirty days from that
date to file a substituted appellee brief.
Rebriefing ordered.
TUCKER and WOOD, JJ., agree.
Hearthstone Law, PLLC, by: Kevin J. Wallace, for appellant.
Matthews, Campbell, Rhoads, McClure & Thompson, P.A., by: Sarah L. Waddoups, for appellee.
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