Brown v. State

Appellant Robert Glenn Brown appeals after he was convicted by a Pulaski County Circuit Court jury of rape and was sentenced to serve a total of 300 months' imprisonment. On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in ruling that the Instagram messages and testimony about their contents were sufficiently authenticated to be admissible. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

I. Relevant Facts

In summary, appellant was charged with raping his daughter, L.B, who was less than fourteen years old at the time, in violation of Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-14-103…