Patton v. State, 2013 Ark. App. 583

Patton was convicted by jury of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment.
On appeal, Patton contends sufficiency of the evidence, Batson error, and failure to give a lesser‑included offense instruction.
Patton moved for directed verdict at trial; on appeal he reframe argument to link him as principal.
The trial court did not sua sponte inquire about racial motivation under Batson; no Batson motion was preserved.
Arkansas courts hold that trial courts have no duty to sua sponte give lesser‑included instructions without defense request; strategy governs.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence preserved?	Patton argues insufficient evidence linking him as principal.	State contends sufficiency preserved by direct‑verdict motion.	Issue not preserved; arguments not raised in motion.
Batson challenge timing and error	Batson challenge should be considered despite no trial objection.	Contends no preservation; Wicks rule not allowing first‑time Batson on appeal.	No Batson error; Wicks does not permit such posthoc challenge.
Duty to give lesser‑included instruction	Court should have instructed on simple robbery as lesser offense.	Decision to request instructions is trial tactic; failure to request not reversible error.	No duty to instruct absent defense request; appellate dispute falls under trial tacticians.

Rounsaville v. State, 372 Ark. 252 (2008) (directed-verdict grounds; preserved grounds required)
Wicks v. State, 270 Ark. 781 (1980) (contemporaneous-objection rule; Batson remains unaltered)
Hodges v. State, 27 Ark. App. 154 (1989) (first-time Batson review on appeal not permitted)
Collins v. State, 271 Ark. 825 (1981) (trial-tactics rationale for not requiring all lesser offenses)
Henderson v. State, 281 Ark. 406 (1984) (counsel must request lesser-included offenses)
Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986) (juror‑selection racial‑motivation challenge standard)