Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court convened Thursday morning in the Adams/Vines Theater at Arkansas Northeastern College.
Chief Justice Jim Hannah explained to the standing-room-only crowd that a law passed in 2000 allows the court to hold sessions in places other than their courtroom in Little Rock.
After hearing oral arguments in the case, the seven justices divided into groups and went to several area schools to speak with students.
Hannah and Associate Justice Robert Brown visited with students at Blytheville High School.
Since the justices cannot comment on cases being considered by the court, the justices and the students spoke of hypothetical situations that could come into play in their jobs.
The two justices first explained to the students their role in the state's judicial system.
"We are a co-equal branch of government, the judicial branch," explained Brown. As the appellate branch of courts, the Supreme Court does not conduct trials, they only hear cases on appeal. "We read what happened at trial and decide if the (trial court's) decision should stand, if it should be affirmed or reversed."
The justices also explained the court system to the students. The local level of court is district court, which hears misdemeanor cases, commonly traffic violations and those crimes that are punishable by incarceration in the county jail for up to a year.
District judges are elected by the citizens of the county and serve four-year terms.
Circuit Courts are the next level of court and judicial districts can be made of several counties. Circuit judges serve six-year terms.
There are 125 circuit judges in the state, the justices said.
Circuit court has jurisdiction over the most cases, including civil, criminal, juvenile and domestic. Of those, less than 5 percent actually go before a jury in trial, Hannah said.
"Many are heard by a judge only, called a bench trial," he said. Most of the cases are solved by plea agreements, he added.
The next level of court is the Arkansas Court of Appeals. This 12-member body serves eight-year terms and hears the appeals of cases from circuit courts.
If a person does not like the decision handed down by the Court of Appeals, the person can ask for the case to be heard by the state Supreme Court. The court can decide whether or not to hear a case.
The only cases that are automatically heard by the state Supreme Court are those involving the death penalty or life sentences, the disciplining of judges and lawyers, tax issues and ballot initiatives.
The Supreme Court also has the right to review decisions made by the Court of Appeals.
Very few cases overall are appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and even fewer are heard by the highest court in the country.
But some cases from Arkansas have gone on to the high court.
"We've been reversed and affirmed," Brown said.
Thursday morning, the court heard arguments on a capital murder case from Saline County during its session Thursday.
In the case, Paul Norris was convicted of capital murder after he allegedly struck a man in the head with a board. Norris' court-appointed attorney, Brent Standridge, said that his client feared for his own life because the victim had a knife or object known as a "leatherman's tool."
Because the defendant claimed the crime was self-defense, Standridge said the jury should have received an instruction regarding negligent homicide.
In her case arguments, Laura Shue, assistant attorney general, said the case was "plain and simple. It's a case of capital murder for money."
Shue said the case had no facts to support a negligent homicide jury instruction and that the jury was given more than enough information to make a decision. "The trial court and the state were pretty generous" in the case, Shue said.
The point the defense is making is moot, Shue said, because the jury rejected "the whole theory that the victim had a knife."
After hearing oral arguments, the court retired to chambers to discuss the case. A decision by the court is expected to be handed down within two weeks or so.
dhilton@blythevillecourier.com