Page:State v. Brown.pdf/14

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Ark.]
State v. Brown
Cite as 356 Ark. 460 (2004)
473


consent to search. We now depart from our holding in King and overrule that case to the extent it stands for the proposition that a homeowner need not be apprised of his or her right to refuse a consent to search as a prerequisite to a valid consent to search that home.

The United States Supreme Court overrules cases based on the United States Constitution with some regularity. See, e.g., Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (March 8, 2004) (interpreting the Confrontation Clause for out-of-court statements of witnesses and overruling Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56 (1980)); Lawrence v. Texas, 123 S. Ct. 2472 (2003) (interpreting the Fourteenth Amendment with regard to homosexuals' rights to liberty and overruling Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986)); Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) (interpreting the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial where trial court, sitting alone, had determined the presence or absence of aggravating circumstances in a death case and overruling Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639 (1990)); Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991) (overruling Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987), and South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989), regarding victim-impact evidence and noting that in the past twenty years, thirty-three of its previous constitutional decisions had been overruled in whole or in part).

[10, 11] This court has said that although as a general rule we are bound to follow precedent, we will break with precedent when the result is patently wrong and so manifestly unjust that a break becomes unavoidable. See Aka v. Jefferson Hosp. Ass'n, 344 Ark. 627, 42 S.W.3d 508 (2001) (citing State Office of Child Support Enforcement v. Mitchell, 330 Ark. 338, 954 S.W.2d 907 (1997); Parish v. Pitts, 244 Ark. 1239, 429 S.W.2d 215 (1995)). In Aka, we held that a viable fetus is a "person" for purposes of the wrongful-death statute and did so based on the express public policy of the General Assembly. In our Aka decision, we also alluded to Amendment 68 of the Arkansas Constitution with its declaration that the policy in Arkansas is to protect the life of every unborn child. We have overruled other cases based on an evolving statement of public policy from our General Assembly. See, e.g., Jackson v. Cadillac Cowboy, Inc., 337 Ark. 24, 986 S.W.2d 410 (1999) (striking down Carr v. Turner, 238 Ark. 889, 385 S.W.2d 656 (1965), based on high duty of care placed on sellers of alcoholic beverages by General Assembly regarding sales to intoxicated persons); Shannon v. Wilson, 329 Ark. 143, 947 S.W.2d 349 (1997) (striking down