APPEAL
FROM THE GRANT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 27CR-18-7] HONORABLE
CHRIS E WILLIAMS, JUDGE.
Tara
Ann Schmutzler, for appellant.
Leslie
Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Michael L. Yarbrough, Ass't
Att'y Gen., for appellee.
BART
F. VIRDEN, Judge.
A Grant
County jury found appellant Anthony Bens guilty of possession
of a firearm by certain persons for which he was sentenced as
a habitual offender to seven years'
imprisonment.[1] Bens argues that the evidence was
insufficient to support his conviction. Because of briefing
deficiencies, we are unable to reach the merits of his
argument and instead order rebriefing.
I.
Abstracting Issues
The
appellant shall create an abstract of the material parts of
all the transcripts (stenographically reported material) in
the record. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-2(a)(5). Information in a
transcript is material if it is essential for the appellate
court to confirm its jurisdiction, to understand the case,
and to decide the issues on appeal. Ark. Sup. Ct. R.
4-2(a)(5). The abstract shall be an impartial condensation,
without comment or emphasis, of the transcript. Ark. Sup. Ct.
R. 4-2(a)(5)(B).
A DVD
of Bens's encounter with law enforcement officers was
played for the jury. The audio portion of the DVD was
transcribed by the court reporter. Instead of abstracting the
transcript, appellate counsel summarized the video in a
third-person narrative that is, at times, misleading. For
example, appellate counsel's summary provides that
Mr. Bens told another officer that he has no business looking
in his car. The officer explained that it's in plain
sight and that Mr. Bens doesn't need to go back to the
car, and ordered Mr. Bens to put his hands behind his back
and that there was a gun in the "damn car" too (R.
197). Mr. Bens explained that the gun is his wife's gun
and that he wasn't going for the gun when the
officers' [sic] pulled up (R. 197).
Appellate
counsel's summary was taken from the following exchange
in the record between two unidentified officers and Bens:
Defendant: Man [inaudible] you ain't got no business
looking in my car.
Officer: Yeah, it's in plain sight.
Officer: Plain view sight. Don't go in that car. Do not
go in that car. No. Out of it now. Put your hands behind your
back. Put your hands behind your back right now. ...