Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-608
Waiver of death penalty
- If a defendant is charged with capital murder, with the permission of the court the prosecuting attorney may waive the death penalty.
- In a case described in subsection (a) of this section, if the defendant pleads guilty to capital murder or is found guilty of capital murder after trial to the court or to a jury, the trial court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole.
History. Acts 1975, No. 280, § 1307; 1977, No. 474, § 14; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-1307.
Case Notes
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel.
Trial court properly found appellant's guilty plea was voluntarily and intelligently entered because trial counsel's advice that he faced a death sentence was not erroneous as the death penalty remained a potential outcome of any trial; no evidence or testimony was introduced to establish that the death penalty had been waived, and the circumstances surrounding the death of the victim and her unborn child supported counsel's reasonable belief that appellant faced a potential death sentence. True v. State, 2017 Ark. 323, 532 S.W.3d 70 (2017).
Juvenile Offenders.
Circuit court erred by denying appellant juvenile's petition for writ of habeas corpus; because he was only fourteen years old when he committed capital-murder and aggravated-robbery, his mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole violated the Eighth Amendment, U.S. Const. amend. VIII. In considering the capital-murder statute as it pertained to juveniles, the Supreme Court of Arkansas severed portions of § 5-10-101(c) which provided that capital murder was punishable by death or life imprisonment without parole pursuant to §§ 5-4-601, 5-4-605, 5-4-607, and this section. Jackson v. Norris, 2013 Ark. 175, 426 S.W.3d 906 (2013).
5-4-609 — 5-4-614. [Reserved.]
A person convicted of a capital offense shall be punished by death by lethal injection or by life imprisonment without parole pursuant to this subchapter.
History. Acts 1973, No. 438, § 6; 1975, No. 928, § 17; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-1351.
Case Notes
Constitutionality.
The death penalty per se is not violative of the federal Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Clark v. State, 264 Ark. 630, 573 S.W.2d 622 (1978).
Assistance of Counsel.
Trial court did not clearly err when it found that appellant's guilty plea was voluntarily and intelligently entered because trial counsel was not ineffective for allegedly pressuring appellant into pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty; although appellant argued that the prosecutor had not filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty, the circumstances surrounding the death of the victim and her unborn child supported trial counsel's reasonable belief that appellant faced a potential death sentence. True v. State, 2017 Ark. 323, 532 S.W.3d 70 (2017).
Cited: Collins v. State, 259 Ark. 8, 531 S.W.2d 13 (1975); Neal v. State, 259 Ark. 27, 531 S.W.2d 17 (1975); Collins v. Arkansas, 429 U.S. 808, 97 S. Ct. 44, 97 S. Ct. 45 (1976); Emerson v. State, 43 Ark. 372 (1884); Jackson v. Norris, 2013 Ark. 175, 426 S.W.3d 906 (2013).