{
  "id": 1655498,
  "name": "Christina Marie RIGGS and John Wesley Hall, Jr. v. The Hon. Marion HUMPHREY, Circuit Judge, Pulaski County Circuit Court, First Division",
  "name_abbreviation": "Riggs v. Humphrey",
  "decision_date": "1998-07-24",
  "docket_number": "CR 98-889",
  "first_page": "231",
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      "year": 1988,
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T20:44:18.632081+00:00",
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    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Newbern, Brown, and Imber, JJ., not participating."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "Christina Marie RIGGS and John Wesley Hall, Jr. v. The Hon. Marion HUMPHREY, Circuit Judge, Pulaski County Circuit Court, First Division"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Per Curiam.\nChristina Marie Riggs and her attorney, John Wesley Hall, Jr., petition the court for the alternative writs of mandamus, prohibition, or certiorari. In their petition they request the circuit court be directed to conduct a Franz hearing on Riggs\u2019s waiver of her appeal and to set aside the lower court\u2019s order directing Hall to file a notice of appeal. The State has filed its response. We grant the petitioners\u2019 requests for relief by granting a writ of certiorari.\nOur holding in Franz v. State, 296 Ark. 181, 754 S.W.2d 839 (1988) is controlling. In Franz, Ronald Gene Simmons was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by the circuit court. After Simmons was sentenced, Simmons declared that he did not wish to appeal, and wanted his sentence carried out expeditiously. The Reverend Louis J. Franz petitioned to intervene as Simmons\u2019s next friend and asked for a stay of execution. On appeal, we granted a stay of execution and requested the parties to file briefs addressing five issues \u2014 two of which are pertinent to Riggs\u2019s and Hall\u2019s present petition. First, the Simmons court held that there is no mandatory appellate review in Arkansas for death penalty cases. Second, the court further held that, in Arkansas, a defendant sentenced to death will be able to forego a state appeal only if he has been judicially determined to have the capacity to understand the choice between life and death and to knowingly and intelligently waive any and all rights to appeal his sentence. In so holding, we further said the following:\nIn future cases, when a lower court has made a determination that a capital defendant can make a knowing and intelligent waiver of appeal, and has done so, the State has the burden of bringing the record of the lower court proceeding on this issue to this court for review. The record on this issue shall, if possible, be. lodged in this court after the time for appeal has lapsed, but, in any event, it must be lodged at least seven days before the execution date. We will then review the proceeding to determine whether the defendant had the capacity to understand the choice between life and death and to knowingly and intelligently waive his rights to appeal his sentence of death. The standard of review, as in other types of criminal cases, is whether the trial judge\u2019s conclusion is clearly erroneous. Id. at 189-190. (Emphasis added.)\nAs is clear from the foregoing holdings in Franz, the Pulaski County Circuit Court, First Division, here must conduct a hearing and then determine if Riggs has the capacity to understand the choice between life and death and to knowingly and intelligently waive all rights to appeal her sentence. The State candidly concedes this matter should be remanded for an immediate inquiry into whether Riggs possesses the capacity to waive her right to appeal in a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary manner.\nAs previously noted, Riggs\u2019s conviction judgment was entered on July 1, 1998, and her time for appeal will not lapse until July 31, 1998. The State then has the burden of bringing the record of the lower court\u2019s proceeding to this court for its review. Riggs and the State will be given the opportunity to file their respective briefs on the waiver-of-appeal issue. Because the execution date is set for August 15, 1998, and no hearing and petition for review of the hearing have, as yet, been conducted or filed, it appears impossible to resolve this matter prior to the time this court reconvenes on September 10, 1998. Therefore, we stay Riggs\u2019s execution date until the lower court holds its hearing and makes a judicial determination on Riggs\u2019s waiver-of-right-to-appeal issue and this court\u2019s review of that determination as required under our Franz decision. See also Greene v. State, 326 Ark. 822, 933 S.W.2d 392 (1996).\nWrit of certiorari granted.\nNewbern, Brown, and Imber, JJ., not participating.\nThe Franz court rejected Reverend Franz\u2019s attempt to gain standing, but we need not address any standing issues here.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Per Curiam."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "John Wesley Hall, Jr., for appellants.",
      "Winston Bryant, Att\u2019y Gen., by: Kelly K. Hill, Deputy Att\u2019y Gen., and Todd L. Newton, Ass\u2019t Att\u2019y Gen., for appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "Christina Marie RIGGS and John Wesley Hall, Jr. v. The Hon. Marion HUMPHREY, Circuit Judge, Pulaski County Circuit Court, First Division\nCR 98-889\n972 S.W.2d 946\nSupreme Court of Arkansas\nOpinion delivered July 24, 1998\nJohn Wesley Hall, Jr., for appellants.\nWinston Bryant, Att\u2019y Gen., by: Kelly K. Hill, Deputy Att\u2019y Gen., and Todd L. Newton, Ass\u2019t Att\u2019y Gen., for appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0231-01",
  "first_page_order": 257,
  "last_page_order": 260
}