¶1Appellant, Billy Joe Cook, was charged in Arkansas County Circuit Court with the commission of rape, a class Y felony. After a non-jury trial Cook was found guilty and sentenced by the court to a term of twelve years with eight years suspended. The sole argument on appeal is that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. We affirm.
¶2 In determining the sufficiency of the evidence, we view it in the light most favorable to the State. Cleveland v. State, 315 Ark. 91, 865 S.W.2d 285 (1993). If the decision of the court or jury is supported by substantial evidence, we will affirm. Paige v. State, 45 Ark. App. 13, 870 S.W.2d 771 (1994). Substantial evidence means such evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Edwards v. State, 40 Ark. App. 114, 842 S.W.2d 459 (1992).
¶3 At trial the victim testified, with sufficient clarity, that the appellant had raped her. Although the defendant testified to the contrary, decisions as to the credibility of the witnesses are to be made by the trier of fact. Smith v. State, 314 Ark. 448, 863 S.W.2d 563 (1993). Although there was other corroborating evidence here, the testimony of the victim, standing alone, may constitute substantial evidence. Fox v. State, 314 Ark. 523, 863 S.W.2d 568 (1993). We hold that the appellant’s conviction is supported by substantial evidence.
¶4While the State neither appealed nor cross-appealed, it suggests in its brief that we correct an “illegal sentence” imposed by the trial court. The State says:
The trial court sentenced appellant to twelve years in prison, but suspended eight years of the sentence. This sentence is not authorized by law and, although not objected to below, may be raised on appeal. Jones v. State, 27 Ark. App. 24, 765 S.W.2d 15 (1989). The State respectfully requests that the case be remanded to the trial court only to correct this sentence in accordance with law and that the conviction be in all respects affirmed.
¶5The State correctly notes that rape is a class Y felony, carrying a minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-401(a)(1) (1987). Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-4-301(a)(l)(C) (Supp. 1991) provides that the court shall not suspend imposition of sentence as to a term of imprisonment nor place the defendant on probation for a class Y felony.
¶6While we agree with the State at the outset that the sentence given was below the statutory minimum, and therefore was error, we do not agree that this is an issue the State may raise in the absence of an appeal.
¶7 We must begin with the rule that sentencing is entirely a matter of statute. Eberlein v. State, 315 Ark. 591, 869 S.W.2d 12 (1994); State v. Townsend, 314 Ark. 427, 863 S.W.2d 288 (1993); State v. Freeman, 312 Ark. 34, 846 S.W.2d 660 (1993); Richards v. State, 309 Ark. 133, 827 S.W.2d 155 (1992). The sentence the court imposed was clearly “illegal” in the sense that it was below the statutory minimum. The question for decision, however, is whether we should reverse the trial court, either on our own motion or on suggestion by the State, absent an appeal.
¶8 This is not truly an issue of subject matter jurisdiction. As Chief Judge Cracraft explained in Banning v. State, 22 Ark. App. 144, 737 S.W.2d 167 (1987):
The rule of almost universal application is that there is a distinction between want of jurisdiction to adjudicate a matter and a determination of whether the jurisdiction should be exercised. Jurisdiction of the subject matter is power lawfully conferred on a court to adjudge matters concerning the general question in controversy. It is power to act on the general cause of action alleged and to determine whether the particular facts call for the exercise of that power. Subject matter jurisdiction does not depend on a correct exercise of that power in any particular case. If the court errs in its decision or proceeds irregularly within its assigned jurisdiction, the remedy is by appeal or direct action in the erring court. If it was within the court’s jurisdiction to act upon the subject matter, that action is binding until reversed or set aside. This distinction has also been recognized and applied in our courts.
In Arkansas, a circuit court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear and determine cases involving violations of criminal statutes. It is also empowered .with authority to impose or suspend sentences, and to revoke those suspended sentences. The statutes conferring this authority prescribe the method the court should follow in exercising its assigned jurisdiction, but the failure of the court to properly pursue those statutesjs an entirely different matter from its jurisdiction to determine whether to exercise that power or not. Failure to follow the statutory procedure in the exercise of its power constitutes reversible error but does not oust the jurisdiction of the court. [Citations omitted.]
¶9Nevertheless, allegations of “void or illegal sentences” may be treated by the appellate court as similar to problems of subject matter jurisdiction, in that the court will review the allegations even in the absence of an objection in the trial court. Jones v. State, 27 Ark. App. 24, 765 S.W.2d 15 (1989).
¶10 The supreme court has said that an illegal sentence may be corrected by the appellate courts sua sponte, see Harmon v. State, 317 Ark. 47, 876 S.W.2d 240 (1994); and that an “illegal sentence” means “a sentence illegal on its face.” Lovelace v. State, 301 Ark. 519, 785 S.W.2d 212 (1990). The decision from which these statements are derived is Abdullah v. State, 290 Ark. 537, 720 S.W.2d 902 (1986). There the court said:
Abdullah contends that because the manner of imposing the suspended sentence was illegal, it is subject to being corrected at any time, citing Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-2314 (Supp. 1985). That statute provides that a circuit court may, upon receipt of a petition by an aggrieved party, take certain corrective action. The statute refers to an “illegal sentence,” which may be corrected at any time, and to a sentence illegally imposed, which may be corrected within 120 days after it was imposed or within 120 days after specified action has been taken by an appellate court. The reference to an illegal sentence evidently means a sentence illegal on its face. [Emphasis ours.]
¶11Arkansas Statute Annotated section 43-2314 is now Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-111 entitled “Fixing punishment - Correction of illegal sentence - Reduction of sentence.” Its text remains unchanged. Subsection (a) provides:
Any circuit court, upon receipt of petition by the aggrieved party for relief and after notice of the relief has been served on the prosecuting attorney, may correct an illegal sentence at any time and may correct a sentence imposed in an illegal manner within the time provided in this section for the reduction of sentence.
¶12It is this statute that the supreme court referred to in Abdullah. The statute quite clearly provides for relief to a defendant when the sentence imposed has been excessive. In such cases, it makes good sense for the appellate court to decide the issue “sua sponte” in the interest of judicial economy, as the sentencing circuit court could do so “at any time.” The statute does not contemplate an application by the prosecuting attorney to increase the defendant’s sentence “at any time.”
¶13 We do not view the statute as unfair to the State. At time of sentencing the State presumably knows the range of punishment for the offense it charged. If the trial court sentences the defendant to less than the term authorized by statute, the State has a remedy by way of appeal. State v. Galyean, 315 Ark. 699, 870 S.W.2d 706 (1994); State v. Williams, 315 Ark. 464, 868 S.W.2d 461 (1994); State v. Whale, 314 Ark. 576, 863 S.W.2d 290 (1993); State v. Townsend, 314 Ark. 427, 863 S.W.2d 288 (1993).
¶14Neither Lambert v. State, 286 Ark. 408, 692 S.W.2d 238 (1985), nor Eberlein v. State, 315 Ark. 591, 869 S.W.2d 12 (1994), are in point. Lambert addressed whether the trial court had lost jurisdiction after erroneously suspending- the defendant’s sentences. While the court in Lambert characterized the issue as one of subject matter jurisdiction, later decisions of the supreme court recognize that this is not so. Bangs v. State, 310 Ark. 235, 835 S.W.2d 294 (1992). The court in Lambert relied in part on In Re Bonner, 151 U.S. 242 (1893). In Bonner the Court said:
If the court is authorized to impose imprisonment, and it exceeds the time prescribed by law, the judgment is void for the excess.
The law of our country takes care, or should take care, that not the weight of a judge’s finger shall fall upon any one except as specifically authorized. [Emphasis ours.]
¶15Eberlein is also distinguishable. There the defendant-appellant, for reasons not clear, argued that the trial court lacked authority to suspend his sentence and the supreme court agreed. The issue was raised by the defendant on direct appeal.
¶16The State’s argument must be that the inadequate sentence in the case at bar was “unauthorized,” therefore “illegal,” and thus can be corrected “at any time,” not only by the trial court but also by this court. Can it be possible that long after a defendant’s release from prison, having served his sentence for a crime, he can be brought back into court and resentenced to an additional term?
¶17 While we do not decide whether the State must object in the trial court to a sentence it regards as inadequate, we hold that the issue may not be raised absent an appeal or cross-appeal.
¶18concurring in part, dissenting in part.
¶19Today the majority travels a narrow, tortuous path to get to the wrong result, avoiding the correction of an illegal sentence. What is worse, the path they have chosen to get there is a path this Court has no authority to travel: the path of statutory construction or interpretation of Court Rules which is, with few exceptions, forbidden to us under Rule l-2(a)(3) of the Rules of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Even if we had the authority to engage in the analysis employed by the majority to reach its result, we should not do so, because the result they reach is legally incorrect, logically unsound, wasteful of the limited resources available to trial courts, and contrary to the obvious and unambiguous intent of the legislature.
¶20The majority’s opinion is premised on the State’s ability to appeal from an illegal sentence. As a general rule, the State has no right to appeal except as conferred by the constitution or rule of criminal procedure. State v. Tipton, 300 Ark. 211, 779 S.W.2d 138 (1989). Generally, appeals by the State under Rule 36.10, Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure, do not affect the pending litigation, but in recent years our Supreme Court has allowed appeals by the State under 36.10, and remanded for resentenc-ing. No case, however, holds that such an appeal is required.
¶21The essence of the majority’s decision is this: the State may appeal, and therefore must appeal in order to have an illegal sentence corrected. But this is contrary to the long-established practice of this Court of correcting illegal sentences which, like the sentence in the case at bar, appear on the face of the record. See, e.g., Jones v. State, 27 Ark. App. 24, 765 S.W.2d 15 (1989). It is clear beyond question that we are authorized to correct illegal sentences sua sponte. Harmon v. State, 317 Ark. 47, 876 S.W.2d 240 (1994). The majority does not, and cannot, explain how we lose our authority to examine the legality of a sentence on our own motion simply because the illegality favors the defendant rather than the State. Resentencing on remand is not barred by former jeopardy considerations, see State v. Townsend, 314 Ark. 427, 863 S.W.2d 288 (1993), and no reasoned basis for this distinction is apparent. Instead, the majority has sub silentio interpreted Rule 36.10 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure as requiring an appeal by the State in order to correct a sentencing error favoring a defendant. No such requirement is stated, implied, or hinted at in the Rule, and such a construction is both outside our authority and incorrect.
¶22I dissent and note that I agree with Judge Robbins’ opinion.
¶23Robbins, J., joins in this dissent.