Opinion ID: 2425747
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Aggravating Circumstance of Preventing or Avoiding Arrest

Text: For his third point for reversal, Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that he committed the capital murder to avoid or prevent his arrest for the underlying felonies of forgery and burglary. He asserts that the evidence was just as suggestive that the murder was motivated purely by anger and retaliation, and that, therefore, there is not substantial evidence to support the aggravating circumstance. We disagree. This court may affirm a jury's finding that an aggravating circumstance exists beyond a reasonable doubt only if the State has presented substantial evidence in support of each element of the aggravating circumstance. Greene v. State, 335 Ark. 1, 977 S.W.2d 192 (1998). Substantial evidence is evidence that is forceful enough to compel reasonable minds to reach a conclusion one way or the other and permits the trier of fact to reach a conclusion without having to resort to speculation or conjecture. Id. We review the sufficiency of the evidence in the light most favorable to the State to determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the existence of the aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt. Kemp v. State, 324 Ark. 178, 919 S.W.2d 943, cert. denied, 519 U.S. 982, 117 S.Ct. 436, 136 L.Ed.2d 334 (1996). Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-4-604(5) (Repl.1997) provides for the aggravating circumstance that the capital murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing an arrest or effecting an escape from custody. This aggravating circumstance is apparently designed to deter deliberate murderous acts subversive of the criminal justice system in particular and social order in general, and to protect certain persons deemed especially important to the integrity of both, including law enforcement officers, prison guards, and actual or potential witnesses in judicial proceedings. Id. at 200, 919 S.W.2d at 954 (emphasis added) (quoting Thomas M. Fleming, Annotation: Sufficiency of Evidence, for Purposes of Death Penalty, to Establish Statutory Aggravating Circumstance that Murder Was Committed to Avoid Arrest or Prosecution, to Effect Escape from Custody, to Hinder Governmental Function or Enforcement of Law, and the LikePost-Gregg Cases, 64 A.L.R.4th 755, 763 (1988 and Supp.1995)(footnote omitted)). A common thread in many of this court's prior decisions involving this aggravating circumstance is that the murder was committed to avoid arrest or to eliminate a witness to another offense committed in connection with the murder. Id. Indeed, this court has held that killing a victim to eliminate a witness is the same thing as avoiding or preventing arrest. Sheridan v. State, 313 Ark. 23, 852 S.W.2d 772 (1993). The evidence in the present case supports the jury's conclusion that Appellant committed the murder for the purpose of preventing his arrest on the other crimes. The primary motivation for kidnapping, beating, and killing Melbourne was that he had informed the police about the group's criminal activities. There was testimony that only Appellant and Melbourne knew about the prior burglary that resulted in the stolen property kept at Appellant's house and subsequently recovered by the police. Melbourne's death thus eliminated the possibility that he would later testify against Appellant or the other members of the group. The jury's conclusion is further supported by the group's decision to avoid arrest by fleeing to Utah and the fact that they disposed of Melbourne before leaving the state. We thus affirm the trial court's ruling on this issue.