Chapter 3 Preserving Error

• Library: Handling Appeals in Arkansas (2022 Ed.)

CHAPTER 3 PRESERVING ERROR

Barrett S. Moore

C. Exceptions to the Preservation Requirement

The 2022 version of this section discussed the inconsistency in Arkansas law about the preservation doctrine applying to an appellee. Compare Yanmar Co. v. Slater, 2012 Ark. 36, at 14, 386 S.W.3d 439, 448, with McAdams v. McAdams, 357 Ark. 591, 596, 184 S.W.3d 24, 28 (2004). Neither of those cases, or related authority, have been overruled. But the Arkansas Supreme Court revisited this point in Keesee v. State, 2022 Ark. 68, 641 S.W.3d 628. In that 4-3 decision, Justice Womack's concurrence was pivotal. "Four of the seven justices recognize that ... [a]n appellate court may only find that a circuit court came to the right result, albeit for a wrong reason, if a party has argued the alternative reason." Id....