Randy Paul Brown v. State of Arkansas

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed Brown’s conviction and twenty-year sentence for second-degree sexual assault, holding that the evidence was sufficient, that thirty-four-year-old uncharged sexual-misconduct evidence was admissible during sentencing as relevant character and aggravating-circumstance evidence, and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by declining to reduce the sentence. The court vacated the court of appeals’ contrary sentencing ruling. Chief Justice Hannah, joined by Justice Danielson, concurred in the result but argued that the governing precedent improperly permits statutory sentencing provisions to override the court’s rules of evidence.