Cite as 2013 Ark. 175
is that "capital murder is a Class Y felony."
This severance will not defeat the statute. The purpose of subsection (c) was to provide a penalty for capital murder. Severing language from subsection (c) so that capital murder is a Class Y felony still serves that purpose by providing a penalty for the crime. Moreover, the remaining subsections of the capital-murder statute are not dependent upon the severed language, as subsection (a) of the statute addresses the elements of the crime, and subsection (b) addresses an affirmative defense. Accordingly, we hold that severing that language from the capital-murder statute cures the constitutional infirmities when the statute is applied to juveniles, and the severance of that language is not fatal as the statute's purpose is still accomplished, and the remaining subsections of the statute are not interrelated and dependent.
Similarly, we may sever the other statutes quoted above that indicate that the penalty for capital murder is death or life imprisonment, without the severance proving fatal to the capital-murder statute. See Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-104(b); Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-615. Moreover, this severance is in keeping with the intent of the statutory rules of construction of the Arkansas Code, as the Code specifically permits severance of provisions that are invalid or unconstitutional. See Ark. Code Ann. § 1-2-117 (Repl. 2008) (providing that if a portion of the Code is "declared or adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional," then "such declaration or adjudication shall not affect the remaining portions of this Code which shall remain in full force and effect as if the portion so declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional was not originally a part of this Code"); Ark. Code Ann. § 1-2-205 (Repl.
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