Marshall v. State

The majority acknowledges that the right to a twelve-person jury is a fundamental right guaranteed by Ark. Const, art. 2, § 7 and that this right to a twelve-person jury is “inviolate.”

Our supreme court in Grinning v. City of Pine Bluff, 322 Ark. 45, 907 S.W.2d 690 (1995), discussed the court’s decision in Byrd v State, 317 Ark. 609, 879 S.W.2d 435 (1994), in which the court held that Act 592 of 1993, codified at Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-32-202 and 16-32-203 (Repl. 1994), which provides for a jury of six persons in non-felony cases at the judge’s discretion, violated Ark. Const, art. 2, § 7. The…