Page:Ricarte v. State.pdf/3

102 #C.—The statutes do not contemplate that a presentence report be obtained and given to the jury when the issue of punishment is submitted.

Appeal from Washington Circuit Court; Mahlon G. Gibson, Judge; reversed.

Wright & Hamilton, by: Fielding Wright; and Martin, Vater & Karr, by: Charles Karr, for appellant.

Steve Clark, Att'y Gen., by: Clint Miller, Asst. Att'y Gen., for appellee.

G R S, Justice. The appellant Ricarte was convicted of three counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of kidnapping, and two counts of theft of property. As an habitual criminal with 10 prior convictions he was sentenced to life imprisonment on each count of aggravated robbery and to 30 years plus a $15,000 fine on each of the other counts. The trial court made the sentences run consecutively.

Counsel for the appellant have listed 18 points for reversal, but only the first eight are argued in their brief. It being a life imprisonment case, we have considered all the points. We must reverse the convictions because Ricarte's wife was permitted, over a proper objection, to testify against him. We need not discuss all of the other 17 points, for some will not arise upon a second trial and others are so obviously lacking in merit as not to be considered. Dixon v. State, 260 Ark. 857, 545 S.W.2d 606 (1977).

The crimes took place on the evening of March 2 and the morning of March 3, 1982, in Fayetteville. The case was not tried until July 15, 1985, for the robbers followed a carefully laid plan and left scant clues as to their identity. It is not necessary for us to relate the facts in detail.

Four men acted together in committing the crimes. One was not an active participant; he merely monitored police calls on a scanner so that he could warn the others by telephone if the police were alerted by an alarm system. There was no alert.

At about 9:00 p.m. on March 2 the other three, Ricarte, Brannen, and Clark, entered the home of Robert H. Perry, who owned a jewelry store in Fayetteville. Two of the men were rather inadequately disguised. The third man, Ricarte, was completely