Clark v. State

Robert R. Wright, Special Chief Justice.

Steve Clark, the appellant, was Attorney General of Arkansas from January, 1979 until November, 1990. On July 11, 1990, he was charged with theft by deception, under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-36-103 (1987), of over $2,500, which is a class B felony. He was tried over a period of nine days in October and November, 1990 and found guilty by a the jury of theft by deception of over $200, which is a Class C felony.

This case arose out of investigative reporting that was likely spurred on by the “newspaper war” in Arkansas between the then existing newspapers, the…