Opinion ID: 2425679
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: The three appellants now challenge the sufficiency of the evidence and the trial court's denial of their motions for a directed verdict. We treat a motion for a directed verdict as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. See Freeman v. State, 331 Ark. 130, 959 S.W.2d 400 (1998); Williams v. State, 329 Ark. 8, 946 S.W.2d 678 (1997). In considering a denial of a motion for directed verdict, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. See Freeman v. State, supra . The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether there is substantial evidence to support the verdict. See Freeman v. State, supra ; Union Pac. R.R. Co. v. Sharp, 330 Ark. 174, 952 S.W.2d 658 (1997). Substantial evidence is defined as evidence of sufficient force and character to compel a conclusion one way or the other with reasonable certainty; it must force the mind to pass beyond suspicion or conjecture. Esry v. Carden, 328 Ark. 153, 156, 942 S.W.2d 846, 847 (1997). In such situations, the weight and value of testimony is a matter within the exclusive province of the jury. See Union Pac. R.R. Co. v. Sharp, supra . a. Demarco T. Wilson We first review the evidence presented against Demarco T. Wilson. Frederick Ellis, the passenger in the car with Newsome, identified the three appellants at trial as the shooters. Ellis further testified that he had known the three appellants pretty much his entire life. Following the murder, he gave three different statements to police officersa short one immediately after the shooting, a second one the same night but a few hours later, and a third one five days later. In the first statement, he said there were three or four young black males who were the shooters, but he did not give any names. In the second statement, he identified appellants Antonio Williams and Kendrick Gillum as two of the perpetrators. He added that he had seen Kevin Johnson and Darnell Troup, witnesses at trial, drive by immediately before the shooting and that their car was in front of the Cadillac at the time of the shooting. Ellis identified two more perpetrators in his third statement, one of whom was appellant Demarco T. Wilson. At trial, Ellis testified that two of the three appellants he saw had handguns and that they were standing by the manager's office of the Mayfair Apartments from where the shots were coming. He also changed his story and said that he had viewed the appellants out of the window on the driver's side of the car and not the passenger's side. To explain this contradiction, Ellis said that he was confused and distraught the night of the murder when he gave the second statement. He testified that as he and Newsome turned out of the parking lot onto McAuley Street, the appellants began shooting, and the shots came from behind the car. Kevin Johnson, a witness who was riding with Darnell Troup in a car in front of Newsome and Ellis, testified that he knew the three appellants and saw them with another person he could not identify standing beside the Mayfair Apartments. He stated that one of them had a rifle on his shoulder and that he heard shots soon after his car passed the three men. Darnell Troup, who was driving the car, testified that he heard shots near the back of the apartments, which caused him to speed up and travel to his cousin's house. Michael Lewis also testified that he was just in front of the Cadillac and saw three black men walk from behind the manager's office at the Mayfair Apartments, step onto the back porch, and begin shooting at Newsome's Cadillac. He testified that one of the men raised a rifle and the other two brought out pistols and that the combined shots lasted a good fifteen seconds. Lewis also testified that the passenger in the Cadillac pushed Newsome over in the driver's seat and sped away. Mark Welch testified that he knew Demarco Wilson and that Wilson's girlfriend lived at the Mayfair Apartments. Welch said that he heard the shots and came out of the building when the police officers arrived. He testified that when they [police officers] took him [Wilson] out to the car, he acted like he was happy and stuff, smilin. But when Charles Newsome's sister arrived, he looked spooked. He stated that Wilson was trying to hide behind him and some others. He also testified that at least fifteen to sixteen shots had been fired. The State further produced twenty-five shell casings found at the scene, photographs of the bullet marks on the Cadillac, and photographs of the bullet wounds on the victim as well as other witnesses' testimony whose homes had been shot during the incident. Witnesses also testified to the multitude of bullets fired. The Medical Examiner, Dr. Frank Joseph Peretti, testified that Newsome died from two woundsone in the back and a second in the forearm. He testified that there was no evidence of close-range firing or gunpowder residue on the skin surrounding the wounds. Officer Regina Meek of the West Memphis Police Department testified that she recovered shell casings by the manager's office of the Mayfair Apartments from both a semi-automatic weapon and a revolver. She also testified that there were bullet holes in the back window of Newsome's Cadillac and damage to the right side of the car from gunfire. Detective Kent Mitchell of the West Memphis Police Department testified that there were five bullet holes in the Cadillac located at the driver's side door, the rear glass, the back quarter panel, the left-hand side of the trunk, and the back bumper. Officer Bryn Ridge, also of the West Memphis Police Department, testified that he found three bullet holes located in the front seats and the armrest between the seats. Viewing this evidence in toto and in the light most favorable to the State, we find substantial evidence of Wilson's guilt. Wilson's primary argument in opposition to this conclusion is an attack on the credibility of Frederick Ellis, who was the only witness who identified Wilson as a shooter. The attack is premised on the inconsistencies in Ellis's testimony compared to his statements to the police and the testimony of other witnesses. The major inconsistencies that the defense points to are whether there were three or four perpetrators, whether Ellis saw the three appellants through the passenger's or driver's window, whether all three perpetrators had guns, and the fact that he did not name Wilson until he gave his third statement to police officers. This court, though, does not attempt to weigh the evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses. That lies within the province of the trier of fact. See Harris v. State, 331 Ark. 353, 961 S.W.2d 737 (1998). Moreover, inconsistent testimony does not render proof insufficient as a matter of law, and one eyewitness's testimony is sufficient to sustain a conviction. See id.; Rawls v. State, 327 Ark. 34, 937 S.W.2d 637 (1997). Wilson has presented us with no valid reason to disregard the jury's assessment of Ellis's credibility. We affirm the trial court's denial of the directedverdict motion. We hold that substantial evidence to support Wilson's judgment of conviction does exist. b. Antonio Williams and Kenneth Gillum With respect to the State's evidence amassed against Antonio Williams and Kenneth Gillum, it was the same evidence for the most part already discussed in relation to Demarco T. Wilson, which we held was substantial. The State, however, first contends that although Williams made a motion for directed verdict at the close of the State's case and renewed it at the close of his case, he did not renew his motion at the close of Gillum's and Wilson's cases. Thus, according to the State, Williams's claim is not preserved for our review. We disagree. Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure 33.1, provides in part: When there has been a trial by jury, the failure of a defendant to move for a directed verdict at the conclusion of the evidence presented by the prosecution and again at the close of the case because of insufficiency of the evidence will constitute a waiver of any question pertaining to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury verdict. (Emphasis added.) The issue, then, is what is the close of the case, as the phrase pertains to Williams. We believe that a reasonable interpretation is the close of the defendant's own case. The policy behind the rule is certainly served by having a defendant renew his motion at the close of his case. This gives the trial court the opportunity to decide the motion based on all of the pertinent evidence relating to that particular defendant. Turning then to the merits, Williams and Gillum both contend, as did Wilson, that the State's case against them is riddled with inconsistencies. It is true that State witnesses gave contradictory testimony about which way Newsome's car turned onto McAuley Street, whether the passenger door of the Cadillac was opened after the shooting, whether the car slowed or stopped, and whether Ellis went to the driver's side to push Newsome aside in order to drive the car. There was further an issue about the finding of gun powder residue on Newsome's jacket, which is only consistent with close-range shooting and which was inconsistent with the testimony of Dr. Peretti, who testified that there was no evidence of close-range firing around the wounds. Witnesses also were not completely in accord regarding what weapons were used: Frederick Ellis said there were two handguns, while Michael Lewis testified to two handguns and a rifle. And there was a conflict in testimony about which car was driving in front of the Cadillac: Michael Lewis's or Kevin Johnson's, the color of the Cadillac, and whether the handguns were brown or chrome. Further, the two appellants emphasize that Frederick Ellis and Kevin Johnson were the only two witnesses who identified them, and they are both convicted felons. Furthermore, their statements were contradictory and also conflicted with other trial testimony. Added to this was the fact that Johnson did not give his statement until nine days after the shooting, which the defense claimed undercut his credibility because he may have talked to Ellis. Finally, Williams and Gillum refer to the testimony of Carla Nolan, who was Williams's witness and who testified that she heard shots fired and looked out her window. She saw two cars coming from the Mayfair Apartments. She stated that the car traveling north had passengers shooting at the car traveling south. This testimony, of course, was at odds with the State's witnesses who testified that the shooters were all on foot. Regardless of the discrepancies, inconsistencies, and contradictory evidence, we reiterate that matters of credibility are for the jury to determine. See Bell v. State, 334 Ark. 285, 973 S.W.2d 806 (1998). We also note that there was additional evidence introduced against Gillum that supports a finding of guilt. First, Ellis testified to Gillum's motive for the shooting, which was an argument between Gillum and Newsome at a barbeque place on Missouri Street a week prior to the shooting. There were, in addition, two statements made by Gillum and testified to by prisoners in the Crittenden County Jail. Prisoner Jeff Cayton testified that he was in jail with Gillum and that Gillum said, I shot ... [Newsome's] car up, that Ronald Davis had taken care of the gun, and that the shooting was gang-related. Prisoner Hugh Foster testified that Gillum was talkin' about how he had done shot one guy and was probably going to prison. Foster added that Gillum told him when he got out of prison, he was gonna shoot somebody else. As was the case with Wilson, we conclude that the evidence mounted against Antonio Williams and Kenneth Gillum was substantial and amply supports the judgments of conviction.