Opinion
Opinion Delivered January 11, 2007
Judge Terry Crabtree of the Arkansas Court of Appeals passed away on January 6, 2007. His death, terminating a lifetime of public service, is a grievous loss to the judiciary and people of Arkansas.
Terry Crabtree's career of public service began in the United States Army, where he performed the dangerous task of helicopter door gunner with the Army's Air Cavalry in Vietnam. Following his military service, for which he was awarded the Air Medal and the Bronze Star, he fought for justice as a police officer in the Watts area of Los Angeles until 1977, when he honorably retired after being shot in the line of duty and suffering an injury that ultimately resulted in the loss of his leg.
This injury did not end Terry Crabtree's career as an upholder of justice. Obtaining bachelors and law degrees from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Terry Crabtree showed his dedication to the ideal of justice by working as a public defender on behalf of the arrestees he had once apprehended. He began his judicial career as a municipal judge and was soon serving as Circuit-Chancery and Juvenile Judge in northwest Arkansas. His outstanding performance in these positions resulted in his being appointed to the Arkansas Court of Appeals by Governor Mike Huckabee. Judge Crabtree subsequently was elected to two consecutive terms on that court.
Judge Crabtree will be missed as a legal scholar who served on the faculty of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and who authored some of the finest opinions ever delivered by an Arkansas appellate court. He will be missed even more for his quiet courage and idealistic devotion to duty and justice.
The court wishes to express its sincere sympathy to the family.
___________________________ Chief Justice Jim Hannah
_____________________ Justice Tom Glaze
_______________________ Justice Annabelle Clinton-Imber
_____________________ Justice Don Corbin
__________________________ Justice Jim Gunter
______________________ Justice Robert Brown
__________________________ Justice Paul Danielson