Lead Opinion
On Oсtober 25, 1996, the State of Arkansas filed its petition for a writ of prohibition or, alternatively, for a writ of certiorari and prayed that this court vacate the Pulaski County Circuit Court’s order reducing bail for David Bernard Batts from $25,000 to $7,500. We deny the petition.
On July 16, 1996, Officer Charles Jones of the Sherwood Police Department arrested David Bernard Batts, age 16, for the unlawful discharge of a firearm, which is a Class B felony. See Ark. Code Ann. § 5-74-107(b)(l), (2) (Repl. 1993). Officer Jones issued a complaint against Batts for the offense by completing an Arkansas Uniform Traffic Ticket and Complaint form in which he stated that he had reasonable grounds to believe the offensе was committed. Batts was booked in the Sherwood City Jail, and bail was fixed at $50,000.
The following day, Batts appeared with a deputy public defender in Sherwood Municipal Court, presumably for a reasonable-cause hearing on whether Batts committed the offense. See Ark. R. Crim. P. 4.1(e). The municipal court appаrently found reasonable cause and, therefore, cause to detain Batts under Ark. R. Crim. P. 8.3(c), though the record before this court is void of any information concerning a hearing. The municipal court records do reflect that bail was set at $25,000, and the matter was bound over to Pulaski County Circuit Court. Batts was transferred to the Pulaski County Jail.
On September 17, 1996, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey held a hearing on the Batts matter, after first notifying the prosecuting attorney. The catalyst for the hearing was a meeting that Judge Humphrey had with Batts’s parents the previous day where they complained to the judge that Batts should be in school and not in jail. Batts had been in jail continuously since his arrest on July 16, 1996. The prosecuting attorney had filed no formal felony charges against him.
At the September 17, 1996 hearing, the deputy prosecutor explained that the State’s case against Batts would be that he shot at another car while traveling on the Jacksonville/Sherwoоd highway and struck a postal truck that was following behind the car he was trying to hit. A dispute at a roller skating rink led to the shooting. The prosecutor further informed the court that his office had received the Batts file on August 19, 1996, but had not yet made a decision to file formal charges against him as an adult. The deputy proseсutor stated:
It hasn’t gone to the first attorney for a file decision. And we try and get all of our file decisions out within a month and we’re right on the outside of that right now. As the Court knows, some things [are] slowed down because of the turnover in the circuit clerk’s office.
The deputy prosecutor further advised the circuit court that Batts had been given his Miranda rights at the Sherwood Police Department and had admitted to the shooting. He further told the court that the prosecutor would be charging Batts as an adult and that “there will probably be two counts of unlawful discharge and probably one terroristic act for hitting the mail truck that was occuрied by a postal worker.”
The deputy prosecutor then objected to the bond hearing because charges had not been filed in circuit court. The court admonished the prosecutor to “move these [cases] along”, and the court reduced the bail to $7,500. It is that action by the circuit court that thе State seeks to vacate with its petition.
I. Prohibition
We first consider whether a petition for a writ of prohibition is the appropriate remedy. We conclude that it is not. A writ of prohibition is only appropriate when the acting court is wholly without jurisdiction. Steve Standridge Ins., Inc. v. Langston,
The Arkansas Constitution provides that the circuit courts of this state have superintending control over municipal courts. Ark. Const, art. 7, § 14. See also Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-13-203 and 16-13-204 (Repl. 1994). The cirсuit courts also have exclusive jurisdiction over felony charges. Ark. Const, art. 7, § 11; State v. Pulaski County Circuit-Chancery Court,
II. Certiorari
We turn then to the alternative remedy requested, which is certiorari. Writs of certiorari have been lаbeled the appropriate vehicle for relief in bail proceedings. See, e.g., Casement v. State,
Certiorari lies to correct proceedings erroneous on the face of the record where there is no other adequate remedy, and it is available to the appellatе court in its exercise of superintending control over a lower court that is proceeding illegally where no other mode of review has been provided. Lupo v. Lineberger,313 Ark. 315 ,855 S.W.2d 293 (1993). A demonstration of plain, manifest, clear, and gross abuse of discretion is essential before this court will grant a petition for writ of certiorari. Shorey v. Thompson,295 Ark. 664 ,750 S.W.2d 955 (1988).
Foreman,
On the merits of whether a writ of certiorari is warranted under these facts, we conclude that it is not for the same reasons that have already been discussed. Probable cause for detention had been found by the Sherwood Municipal Court, and the case had been bound over to circuit court. We have held that before the prosecutor files a proper charging instrument, the circuit court has no authority to proceed with the matter. Whitehead v. State,
The State bases its contention that the circuit court was withоut authority to effect a change in the bail amount on two cases — Gober v. Daniels,
Likewise in Gober, the defendant was convicted of DWI (a misdemeanor), and he appealed to the circuit court. The circuit court then entered an order of mandamus to the municipal court to reduce the bond by the amount of the fines which were suspended. Citing Casoli, we held again that the circuit court erred in issuing a writ of mandamus to control the discretion of the municipal court.
The Gober and Casoli cases, however, are distinguishable from the case at hand. First, in both earlier cases the circuit court directed the municipal court to reduce the bail. Here, the circuit court reduced the bail amount itself. Secondly, the municipal court in Gober and Casoli had jurisdiction to bring about convictions of the misdemeanor offenses, which would result in an appeal to the circuit court in the normal course of events. In the instant case, the municipal court had no authority to proceed with trying a felony offense and was limited to a determination of whether reasonable cause existed that Bаtts committed the offense and whether he should be detained pending further proceedings. See Ark. Const, art. 7, § 43; Ark. R. Crim. P. 4.1(e), 8.3(c). See also Ark. Code Ann. § 16-85-207 (1987); Bailey v. State,
What is most troublesome about Batts’s situation is the judicial limbo into which he was cast for an extended period of time without a formal felony charge being lodged аgainst him. The decision to file a felony information generally rests entirely in the prosecutor’s discretion. See Miller v. State,
Petition denied.
Notes
We do not address the issue of Batts’s juvenile status. Neither party disputes the fact that the prosecuting attorney intended to charge Batts as an adult with one or more felony counts.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. To my knowledge, this court has never upheld a trial court’s taking jurisdiction to hear a case when no complaint has been filed or action has been commenced. Here, the State repeatedly objected to the trial court taking jurisdiction in this case without something first having been filed with the court. To permit the trial court’s actions and decision in this matter eviscerates the basic requirements of this court’s rules of proсedure. Therefore, I dissent.
This rather unusual case began on July 16, 1996, when David Batts allegedly was in a vehicle when he shot at another car and struck a postal truck. On the same date, Batts was arrested, and the municipal court held a reasonable cause hearing. Upon conclusion of the hearing, the muniсipal judge found Batts’s charge involved a felony offense, the discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, Ark. Code Ann. § 5-74-107 (Repl. 1993). The judge then set Batts’s bond at $50,000, but reduced it to $25,000 the next day. No further action is shown to have been requested or taken in the municipal court.
The next set of events began on September 16, 1996, when Batts’s parents showed up at the Pulaski County Courthouse, and for some reason, went direcdy to Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Marion H. Humphrey. In other words, the parents filed no pleadings in the clerk’s office, and they had no attorney. Nonetheless, the parents asked Judge Humphrey to help them find some information concerning David Batts’s case, and complained that their son should be in school, but instead was in jail. The judge accommodated the parents by contacting the prosecuting attorney’s office and requesting that office to appear in his court the next day. The judge also asked the prosecutor’s office to check to see if Batts had a prior record.
On September 17, 1996, Judge Humphrey, over the State’s objection, conducted a hearing concerning Batts’s case even though no complaint had been filed, and no attorney was present to represent Batts or the parents. The deputy prоsecutor informed the court he could not, as yet, determine if Batts had a prior record, but related that Batts had given a statement, admitting to the July 16 shooting incident for which he was arrested. The deputy prosecutor further related his office had received the municipal court file on Batts on August 19, 1996, and while the Stаte tries to file such felony cases in circuit court within thirty days of a municipal court proceeding, it had not yet done so in the Batts case. The deputy prosecutor said that his office would likely charge Batts with the unlawful discharge of a firearm count and terroristic threatening, since Batts’s shot had hit the postаl truck when the truck was occupied.
Judge Humphrey voiced concern over Batts being only sixteen years old, his not being in school, and his sitting in jail when no charge had been filed in circuit court. The judge asked Batts’s parents if they were able to make any kind of bond, and subsequently he reduced Batts’s bond to $7,500. At the hearing’s end, thе deputy prosecutor again objected because nothing had ever been filed giving the trial court jurisdiction.
The State filed its original action in our court requesting this court issue a writ of prohibition vacating the circuit judge’s order reducing Batts’s bond. The State continues its objection, stating Batts had never filed a complaint with the circuit court, therefore, the circuit judge had no authority or jurisdiction to enter an order.
Rule 3 of this court’s rules of civil procedure establishes that a civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the clerk of the proper court who shall note thereon the date and preсise time of filing. Upon filing of the complaint, the clerk issues a summons forthwith, and that summons is to be served on the defendant under ARCP Rule 4. If the defendant is not served within 120 days, the action is dismissed unless the time for service is extended. These fundamental rules were altogether ignored in this case. In sum, no action has ever been filed or summons served so as to commence this matter in Judge Humphrey’s court. Therefore, the judge had no authority to conduct proceedings concerning Batts’s case.
This court’s willingness to permit the circuit court to ignore this court’s rules of civil procedure has caused it to err in its review of the trial court’s order. Fоr example, the majority court states the Pulaski County Circuit Court does not wholly lack subject-matter jurisdiction, yet this court’s settled rule is that jurisdiction is tested on the pleadings. Springdale Sch. Dist. v. Jameson, Judge,
Batts’s counsel on appeal complains the State should have filed its charges earlier in circuit court, but if that was Batts’s complaint, he could have properly filed a complaint asking a writ of mandamus issue against the State compelling it to exercise its discretion and file charges against Batts. Or, Batts could have requested the municipal court to give him another reduction, since that court willingly gave him one earlier.
At the very least, Batts was required to file his complaint, setting out his allegations and grievances, in the circuit court clerk’s office, so the clеrk could properly assign the case to a circuit judge for immediate action, if requested. By its decision today, this court authorizes a procedure which allows parties to circumvent our court rules and permits them to select a judge they think might afford them relief. Such forum shopping should be forbidden by this court, not encouraged.