Melissa Albertson v. State of Arkansas

Cite as 2021 Ark. App. 133

Elizabeth Perry
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
I attest to the accuracy and
integrity of this document DIVISION II
No. CR-20-506
2023.06.23 10:21:43 -05'00'
2023.001.20174

Opinion Delivered: March 17, 2021

MELISSA ALBERTSON
APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE YELL
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT,
V. NORTHERN DISTRICT
[NO. 75CR-19-45]
STATE OF ARKANSAS
APPELLEE HONORABLE JERRY DON RAMEY,
JUDGE

AFFIRMED

MIKE MURPHY, Judge

This appeal stems from a revocation of probation. On appeal, the appellant, Melissa

Albertson, argues that the circuit court abused its discretion when it denied her motion to

dismiss for failure to hold a preliminary hearing. We affirm.

Albertson pleaded guilty to second-degree battery on November 14, 2019, in the

Yell County Circuit Court. She was placed on probation for thirty-six months. Some of

the conditions of her probation included that she report to her probation officer as directed,

that she notify her probation officer before changing her address, and that she remain in

Arkansas unless her probation officer granted her permission to leave the state.

On January 2, 2020, the State filed a petition to revoke Albertson’s probation alleging

that she failed to report to intake, she no longer resided at her approved residence, and her

whereabouts were unknown. A revocation hearing was held June 1, 2020. At that hearing,
Albertson moved to dismiss the revocation petition because there had been no preliminary

hearing pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-93-307(a)(1)–(6) (Repl. 2016).

The prosecutor responded that the purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine

probable cause and that the court had already determined there was probable cause for the

petition to revoke. The court ruled that Albertson had been in court on four previous

occasions when she could have raised the issue of a preliminary hearing and that it had

determined there was probable cause when it issued the arrest warrant for Albertson.

The hearing continued, and the court heard testimony from Albertson’s probation

officer, Caitlyn Avant. Avant testified that Albertson signed the conditions of probation after

she was sentenced but then did not report for her first visit to complete forms and begin her

supervision. She said that Albertson never provided an address or a telephone number and

that she never gave Albertson permission to leave Arkansas.

Albertson also testified. She admitted that she had moved to Iowa within a week of

getting out of jail. She said she had a job and an apartment in Iowa, but she did not have a

way to contact her probation officer in Arkansas. After having lived in Iowa for several

months, Albertson turned herself in to a probation office in Des Moines, and she was

extradited to Arkansas.

At the conclusion of the revocation hearing, the circuit court found that Albertson

had violated condition 6 by failing to report to her probation officer and condition 9 by

leaving Arkansas without obtaining permission to do so. She was sentenced to five years in

the Arkansas Division of Correction, with three years suspended. This timely appeal

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followed. On appeal, Albertson challenges the circuit court’s denial of her motion to dismiss

the revocation petition for a lack of a preliminary hearing.

A circuit court’s denial of a motion to dismiss a revocation petition based on the lack

of a preliminary hearing is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Hart v. State, 2017 Ark. App.

434, at 7–8, 530 S.W.3d 368, 370. If a preliminary hearing is not held, the appellant must

demonstrate prejudice resulting from the failure to hold the hearing. Id.

Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-93-307(a)(1) provides that a defendant arrested

for violation of the conditions of a suspended or probated sentence “is entitled to a

preliminary hearing to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that he or she

has violated a condition of the suspension or probation.” At such a hearing, the defendant

has the right to hear and controvert the opposing evidence and to offer evidence. Ark. Code

Ann. § 16-95-307(a)(4). A suspended or probated sentence, however, cannot be revoked

until after a revocation hearing is held. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-93-307(b)(1).

Here, Albertson did not make any argument below or on appeal as to how she was

prejudiced from the court’s failure to hold a preliminary hearing. She was required to

demonstrate prejudice. Hart, supra. She has not done so. The circuit court did not abuse its

discretion.

Affirmed.

KLAPPENBACH and GRUBER, JJ., agree.

Robert N. Jeffrey, Attorney at Law, by: Robert N. Jeffrey, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att’y Gen., by: Brad Newman, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.

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