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Brewer v. State
Citations: 277 Ark. 40; 639 S.W.2d 54; 1982 Ark. LEXIS 1495Docket: CR 82-73
Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas; September 20, 1982; Arkansas; State Supreme Court
Donnie Brewer was convicted of first degree murder and aggravated robbery, receiving a thirty-year sentence for murder and a fifteen-year sentence for aggravated robbery, to be served consecutively. On appeal, the sole issue was whether these convictions violated the double jeopardy clause under Ark. Stat. Ann. 41-105 (Repl. 1977). It was determined that aggravated robbery is a lesser included offense of first degree murder, thus Brewer could not be convicted of both. Consequently, the conviction for aggravated robbery was set aside, while the conviction for first degree murder was affirmed. The case stemmed from a December 14, 1978 robbery of a grocery store and post office in Charlotte, Arkansas, during which Morris Lillard was killed. David Weaver, a co-defendant who pleaded guilty, testified that Brewer fired the weapon that killed Lillard. Brewer's brother, Ronnie, was convicted of robbery but acquitted of murder. The court referenced previous cases confirming that a defendant cannot be convicted of both a greater and a lesser included offense based on the same conduct. The final ruling was to affirm the murder conviction while modifying the aggravated robbery conviction.