Smith v. State

Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-2-302(a) (Repl.2006) states, “No person who lacks the capacity to understand a proceeding against him or her or to assist effectively in his or her own defense as a result of mental disease or defect shall be tried, convicted, or sentenced for the commission of an offense so long as the incapacity endures.” Mr. Smith has been sentenced to 36 months in the Arkansas Department of Correction without being afforded the due-process safeguards that our criminal code requires. In affirming this case, the majority has made mistakes of both law and fact.

First, the…