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243 Ark. 147

Thomas v. State

Supreme Court of Arkansas

Decided October 2, 1967

Supreme Court of Arkansas · decided 1967-10-02

Relies on Giaccio v. State of Pennsylvania · 30 Ala. App. 136 - Melton v. State · Sibley v. Leek

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1967-10-02

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently March 2023

8 state decisions

201967197019801990200020102020decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Conley Byrd, Justice.

¶1The appellants, Thorp Thomas, Chester Boyer, Leon Brents, Charles F. Wells, Everett Hamm Jr., and Gene Wirges, bring their separate appeals, consolidated here, challenging the authority of the trial court to assess court costs against them upon dismissal of criminal charges against them.

¶2Except for the insertion of the individual names of appellants, the orders entered by the trial court read, ‘ ‘... it is by the Court . . . ordered . . .that the indictment against the said Thorp Thomas be dismissed and that Thorp Thomas be discharged, upon payment of costs.”

¶3The order assessing court costs against the defendant upon dismissal of the indictment is void and of no effect, Melton v. State, (Ala. Ct. of App.) 1 So. 2d 920 (1941), and is a violation of due process of law, Giaccio v. Pennsylvania, 382 U. S. 399 (1966). Nor was any objection necessary since the court exceeded its authority, Sibley v. Leek, 45 Ark. 346 (1885).

¶4Reversed and dismissed.

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