Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 383
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION III
No. CR-25-448
RICKEY GIPSON Opinion Delivered September 2, 2026
APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM THE DALLAS
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
V. [NO. 20CR-24-83]
STATE OF ARKANSAS HONORABLE SPENCER G.
APPELLEE SINGLETON, JUDGE
DISMISSED
WENDY SCHOLTENS WOOD, Judge
Rickey Gipson appeals a sentencing order of the Dallas County Circuit Court
following his guilty plea to possession of a controlled substance, driving while intoxicated,
and endangering the welfare of a minor. Gipson’s sole point on appeal is that the circuit
court erred in denying his Batson challenge to the State’s peremptory strikes.1 We dismiss
Gipson’s appeal.
On May 25, 2024, Dallas County sheriff’s deputies intercepted Gipson at a sobriety
checkpoint. Gipson was intoxicated, possessed crack cocaine, and was driving with his fouryear-old grandchild in the backseat. The State charged Gipson with possession of less than
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Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986) (holding that the use of a peremptory challenge to exclude a prospective juror because of race violates the Equal Protection Clause).
two grams of cocaine, driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and endangering the
welfare of a minor. A jury trial was held on March 4, 2025.
After jury selection, Gipson raised a Batson challenge, arguing that the State
unconstitutionally exercised five of its peremptory strikes to excuse Black jurors. The
circuit court denied Gipson’s challenge, and the jury was sworn in. Before trial began,
Gipson informed the court that he was changing his plea to guilty on all counts, and he
requested to be sentenced by the jury. Among other things, the court specifically advised
Gipson that he was waiving the right to appeal by pleading guilty. He signed a guilty-plea
statement that he understood that he could not appeal a plea of guilty. The plea also
specifically provided that he would be sentenced by the jury. The plea was not conditional.
Following the plea colloquy, the circuit court accepted the plea.
After the sentencing hearing, the jury sentenced Gipson to seventy-two months’
imprisonment. He appeals the court’s denial of his Batson challenge and asks us to reverse
his conviction.
Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure–Criminal 1(a) provides that there shall be no
appeal from a guilty plea. Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 1(a) (2026). There is an exception for a
conditional guilty plea pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 24.3(b) if it is
reserved in writing. Ark. R. Crim. P. 24.3(b) (2026). Two additional exceptions to the
general rule are (1) when there is a challenge to testimony or evidence presented in a
sentencing hearing separate from the plea itself and (2) when the appeal is from a posttrial
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motion challenging the validity and legality of the sentence itself. Burgess v. State, 2016 Ark.
175, at 4, 490 S.W.3d 645, 648.
None of the exceptions apply here. Gipson did not enter a conditional plea. He is
not objecting to testimony or evidence presented in the sentencing hearing, he did not file
a posttrial motion, and he is not challenging his sentence on appeal—only his conviction.
Absent one of the exceptions, a defendant waives his right to appeal when he pleads guilty.
Burns v. State, 2017 Ark. 280, at 3, 528 S.W.3d 269, 270.
Dismissed.
VIRDEN and BROWN, JJ., agree.
Jimmy C. Morris Jr., for appellant.
Tim Griffin, Att’y Gen., by: James Hill, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.
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