Opinion

Shawn Crosby v. State of Arkansas

  • 2021 Ark. App. 7
Court
Court of Appeals of Arkansas
Filed
Jan 13, 2021
Status
Published
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 52.4%

The opinion

Cite as 2021 Ark. App. 7

Digitally signed by Elizabeth ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS

Perry

DIVISION I

Date: 2022.08.15 10:46:28

No. CR-19-957

-05'00'

Adobe Acrobat version:

2022.002.20191 OPINION DELIVERED: JANUARY 13, 2021

SHAWN CROSBY

APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI

COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, FIRST

DIVISION

V. [NO. 60CR-18-3975]

HONORABLE JAMES LEON

STATE OF ARKANSAS JOHNSON, JUDGE

APPELLEE

APPEAL DISMISSED; MOTION TO

WITHDRAW GRANTED

ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Judge

This is a no-merit appeal of Shawn Crosby’s guilty plea to a Class C misdemeanor

criminal trespass in violation of Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-39-203(a)(2) (Repl.

2013). On October 24, 2018, the State filed a felony information against Crosby alleging

that on or about October 8, he committed the felony offense of breaking or entering in

violation of Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-39-202, subject to a sentence enhancement

pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-4-501(b) (Supp. 2019) because he had been

previously convicted of four or more felonies.

On August 13, Crosby again appeared in the circuit court, with the assistance of

counsel, and pleaded guilty to one count of Class C misdemeanor criminal trespass. The

circuit court accepted Crosby’s guilty plea, and on August 14, Crosby, with the assistance

of counsel, signed a guilty-plea statement in which he stated that he understood that by

pleading guilty to Class C misdemeanor criminal trespass he was waiving his right to appeal.

The sentencing order was filed on September 18, and Crosby filed a notice of appeal on

October 15.

Crosby’s appellate counsel filed a motion to withdraw and no-merit brief on June 5,

2020, pursuant to Rule 4-3(k)(1) (2020) of the Rules of the Arkansas Supreme Court and

Court of Appeals and Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), asserting that there is no

issue of arguable merit for an appeal. The clerk of our court attempted to provide Crosby

with his attorney’s motion and brief and to notify him of his right to file pro se points for

reversal as provided in Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 4-3(k)(2). On July 7, the packet was

returned and marked “undeliverable” after being unclaimed by Crosby at 7201 Kentucky

Ave. #6, Little Rock, AR 72207. Counsel has no additional contact information for Crosby,

and mail sent to that address from counsel was returned undeliverable. In light of Crosby’s

failure to file any points for reversal, there is no pleading from which the State could

respond.

We must dismiss this appeal. Except as provided by Arkansas Rule of Criminal

Procedure 24.3(b) (2020), there shall be no appeal from a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.

Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 1(a) (2020). Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 24.3(b) allows a

defendant to enter a conditional guilty plea under certain specified circumstances, but

Crosby did not enter a conditional plea under Rule 24.3(b).

Our supreme court has recognized two other exceptions to Rule 1(a). One occurs

when the assignment of error is from a sentence or sentencing procedure that was not an

integral part of the acceptance of the plea. Rowland v. State, 2020 Ark. App. 19. The other

arises in an appeal from a guilty plea when the issue on appeal is one of evidentiary errors

2

that arose after the plea but during the sentencing phase of the trial, regardless of whether a

jury was impaneled or the circuit court sat as the trier of fact during that phase. Id.

Neither of these exceptions apply in this case. Moreover, Crosby’s one-month jail

sentence for committing the Class C misdemeanor of criminal trespass is legal as evidenced

by the range of incarceration for a Class C misdemeanor as no more than thirty days, see

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-401(b)(3) (Repl. 2013), and thus could not present an issue that

could be raised for the first time on appeal. Crosby’s appeal is therefore dismissed, and

counsel’s motion to withdraw is granted.

Appeal dismissed; motion to withdraw granted.

HARRISON, C.J., and BROWN, J., agree.

William R. Simpson, Jr., Public Defender, by: Clint Miller, Deputy Public Defender,

for appellant.

One brief only.

3

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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