Title: Spencer v. State
Citation: 499 S.W.2d 856
Docket Number: CR 73-84
State: Arkansas
Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court
Date: October 15, 1973

499 S.W.2d 856 (1973) Gregory Allen SPENCER, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. No. CR 73-84. Supreme Court of Arkansas. October 15, 1973. *857 Harold L. Hall, Public Defender, and Garner L. Taylor, Jr., Deputy Public Defender, Little Rock, for appellant. Jim Guy Tucker, Atty. Gen., by O. H. Hargraves, Deputy Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee. HARRIS, Chief Justice. Gregory Allen Spencer was convicted in the Pulaski County Circuit Court of the crime of first degree rape, the jury fixing his punishment at life imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction, and from the judgment entered in accordance with that verdict, appellant brings this appeal. For reversal, two points are asserted; first, that the trial court erred in refusing to give appellant's Requested Instruction No. 2, and second, that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. For convenience, the second point will be first discussed. Carolyn Jean May, 17 years of age, testified that she left her home at 1515 Cumberland in Little Rock about 5:00 A.M. to walk to her mother's home in Highland Court several miles away. At 14th and High Streets, appellant and a friend of his were engaged in conversation and she talked with them. Appellant's friend walked across to a liquor store, purportedly to buy cigarettes, and the witness stated that subsequently Spencer placed a knife to her throat and told her that if she did as he said, he wouldn't hurt her in any way. Mrs. May stated she was scared, shaking, and begging him to take the knife away from her throat, and that he told her to put her arms around him and do as he said. They then went to his apartment where she stated that she was raped. When interrogated as to whether she tried to escape, she said that she looked out of the windows, saw that the roof was too high, and slanted, and that while Spencer did not have the knife on her at the time, she was fearful that he would draw it again. Spencer was living with another girl, Angie Lee Roberts; after the alleged rape, Mrs. May told appellant that she had to go to the bathroom, and in the bathroom she asked Angie to help her get away, but the latter refused, stating that she was afraid and "they would all come up missing". At that time Spencer came to the door and inquired what was taking so long. Spencer then went to the store to get cigarettes and returned to the Spencer apartment where appellant, Mrs. May, Angie Lee Roberts, and Larry Metz (the person who had been with Spencer on the street) played cards. The witness stated that they all then went to a store to buy cold drinks, and that she tried to "motion" someone in the store in order to convey her predicament, but could not get anybody's attention. After returning from the store, they went across the street to the apartment of Metz. There, Mrs. May, according to her testimony, still looking for an opportunity to escape, stated that her feet were cold and she wanted her shoes (which were still at the Spencer apartment). Appellant, at first, was unwilling *858 to let her go, and kept whispering to Angie. Finally, he agreed and the two girls then started to the Spencer apartment but before reaching it, the witness talked Angie into letting her go. There was corroboration of some of this evidence by Angie Lee Roberts. She said there was a window in the bathroom, but it was too small to go through, and that when she had first arrived at the apartment, Larry had told her not to go upstairs. She said that Spencer told her not to let Mrs. May go; that the prosecutrix had begged, but that she (Angie) was afraid of Spencer. She said she had told Mrs. May not to say anything when they went into the store and that she heard Spencer tell Larry Metz, "Watch her." She testified that Spencer told her "not to let her [Mrs. May] go at all * * * to hold her to keep her from going." She was then asked what happened after she let the prosecutrix leave, and she stated that Spencer was very angry and that the two of them circled several blocks looking for her; that on their return to the apartment, Spencer "tore into me", striking her for permitting Mrs. May to leave. Spencer admitted intercourse, but said it was voluntary on the part of Mrs. May. Appellant, of course, argues that there was no rape, Mrs. May consenting, and it is vigorously contended that she had opportunities to mention her predicament to others (at the store and on the street) and that this establishes that no rape was committed. We do not agree. The matters mentioned, of course, were facts to be argued to the jury, including the failure to make outcry, but the jury was the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and it was within its province to believe or disbelieve the witnesses, and to determine whether Mrs. May was acting under duress and fear during the period of time that she was with the appellant and the others. In other words, there is no evidence in the case that establishes, as a matter of law, that no rape was committed. If the jury believed Mrs. May, the testimony was sufficient for conviction. We have said many times that corroboration is not necessary in a rape case. Harrison v. State, 222 Ark. 773, 262 S.W.2d 907, and cases cited therein. For that matter, as previously pointed out, there was, to a degree, corroboration of the testimony of the witness by Angie Roberts. Appellant offered the following instruction: The court refused to give this instruction, stating that it was incorrect. We agree. The phrase, "It is not the persistence with which the party accused intended to prosecute his alleged illegal design, but the force actually used that is the element in the crime of Rape" is incorrect, for this implies that the force must take place at the moment of the criminal act. As long ago as 1878, this court, in Bradley v. State, 32 Ark. 704, said: Aside from that, appellant's theory was completely covered by other instructions given by the court. For instance, appellant's Requested Instruction No. 1, which was given, states: Appellant's Requested Instruction No. 3, given, reads as follows: Appellant's Requested Instruction No. 4, also given, told the jury that it had a right to consider the subsequent silence of the prosecutrix as bearing on the question of whether or not she consented to the act of intercourse. The State's Requested Instruction No. 1 was amended after objection of appellant, and given as follows: These instructions certainly covered the law relative to the offense charged and there can be no legitimate complaint that the jury was not properly instructed. Affirmed.