APPEAL
FROM THE GARLAND COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 26CR-16-445]
HONORABLE JOHN HOMER WRIGHT, JUDGE.
Ogles
Law Firm, P.A., by: John Ogles, for appellant.
One
brief only.
BRANDON J. HARRISON, Judge.
Christopher
Brady Parker pled guilty to one count of aggravated robbery
and was sentenced by a jury to seventeen years in the
Arkansas Department of Correction. Parker's counsel has
now filed a motion to be relieved as counsel pursuant to
Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and
Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 4-3(k) (2018), alleging that this
appeal is without merit. Parker was notified of his right to
file pro se points for reversal via certified mail, but he
has not done so. We affirm the sentencing order and grant
counsel's motion to be relieved.
Parker
was charged with aggravated residential burglary and theft of
a firearm. The information was later amended to include two
additional counts of aggravated robbery. He ultimately pled
guilty to one count of aggravated robbery; specifically, he
admitted that he drove two other individuals to the home of
Mary and Harvey Parker, his grandparents, and waited outside
as the two individuals entered the home, assaulted his
grandparents, and stole money and several firearms. A jury
was convened to decide his sentence.
At the
sentencing hearing, Harvey Parker testified that on the
afternoon of 18 April 2016, a young man knocked on his door
and said he had car trouble and needed help. The man then
pushed open the door, knocking Harvey to the ground, and
pointed a gun at his face. The man also pushed Mary down and
pointed a gun at her. A second young man entered the home and
retrieved several firearms from their bedroom, and the first
man took several hundred dollars out of Harvey's wallet.
Harvey stated that he now must use a walker to get around and
that his wife, who has osteoporosis and previously used a
walker, cannot walk on her own. At the time of this incident,
Harvey was eighty-five years old, and his wife was
eighty-four years old. Mary's testimony was consistent
with Harvey's, and they both testified that they thought
they had a good relationship with their grandson and had
always tried to help him.
Asher
White, one of the other participants in the robbery,
testified that he, Parker, and River Williams, the third
participant, had been doing drugs, primarily methamphetamine,
in the days leading up to the robbery. He agreed that Parker
was a "reluctant participant" in the robbery.
Patsy
and James Miller, Parker's in-laws, both testified that
they had never seen violent behavior from Parker and that
Parker was a good father to his three-year-old son. Morganne
Parker, Parker's wife, testified that she and Parker had
been married for three years but that they were separated
when this incident occurred because Parker had been using
methamphetamine. She described him as an "amazing
father" when he is clean and expressed her wish that he
not receive a long prison sentence.
The
jury reached a unanimous decision that Parker be sentenced to
seventeen years' imprisonment. The court entered a
sentencing order in June 2017, and this appeal followed.
Because
this is a no-merit appeal, counsel is required to list each
ruling adverse to the defendant and to explain why each
adverse ruling does not present a meritorious ground for
reversal. Anders, 386 U.S. at 744; Ark. Sup. Ct. R.
4-3(k)(1). The test is not whether counsel thinks the circuit
court committed no reversible error, but whether the points
to be raised on appeal would be wholly frivolous.
Anders, supra. Pursuant to Anders,
we are required to determine whether the case is wholly
frivolous after a full examination of all the proceedings.
Id.
As a
general rule, a defendant has no right to appeal from a plea
of guilty. Ark. R. App. P.-Crim. 1(a) (2018). A defendant may
appeal from a guilty plea under three limited exceptions: (1)
a conditional guilty plea under certain specified
circumstances pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure
24.3(b); (2) when the assignment of error is from a sentence
or sentencing procedure that was not an integral part of the
acceptance of the plea, see Burgess v. State, 2016
Ark. 175, 490 S.W.3d 645; and (3) an appeal from a guilty
plea when the issue on appeal is one of evidentiary errors
that arose after the plea but during the sentencing phase of
the trial, regardless of whether a jury was impaneled or the
trial judge sat as the trier of fact during that phase.
King v. State, 2013 Ark.App. 342. Parker did not
enter a conditional plea; therefore, he can only appeal from
an error arising from sentencing.
Counsel
has identified seven adverse rulings to Parker and explained
why each one does not present a meritorious ground for
reversal. The first adverse ruling was the overruling of the
defense's objection to the State playing a video
recording of Parker's interview with police wherein he
admitted his involvement in the crime. There were problems
with playing the video, so the only portion played in open
court was an officer administering Parker's
Miranda rights. However, the video was entered into
evidence and available for the jury to view during
deliberations. Counsel argues that he cannot argue in good
faith that the showing of the video of Parker being
Mirandized was prejudicial to Parker, especially because he
received a sentence within the statutory range for his crime.
We also note that while the interview video was available to
jurors in deliberation, we have no way of knowing whether it
was viewed, and this court will not presume prejudice.
Ferguson v. State, 343 Ark. 159, 33 S.W.3d 115
(2000).
The
second adverse ruling occurred when the circuit court
overruled the defense's objection to the State impeaching
its own witness, Asher White, with a prior inconsistent
statement and badgering its own witness. Counsel argues that
Ark. R. Evid. 607 allows impeachment by any party, including
the party that called the witness, and that it was within the
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