Opinion ID: 1574081
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introductory facts:

Text: At about 2:30 a.m. on the 16th day of April, 1963, the North Little Rock Police Department was under an alert to stop and investigate a cream colored Oldsmobile. Such a car was first observed by Officer Gene Barrentine, who tailed the vehicle as it was proceeding through what is known as Rose City toward England. When Officer Barrentine learned through his radio communications that Officer Vaughn was directly behind him and aware of the situation, he started flashing his red dome light and the cream colored Oldsmobile pulled over and stopped. Officer Barrantine stopped his car directly behind the suspect car. Vaughn stopped his car behind and to the left side of the Barrentine car. The driver of the Oldsmobile, later identified as Freeman Kumpe, got out and came around to the left rear of the Oldsmobile and met Barrentine. While Barrentine was beginning a search of Kumpe, Officer Vaughn went around the right rear of the Oldsmobile, ostensibly to check the other passengers in the car. Almost in the instant that Vaughn disappeared around the right rear of the Oldsmobile, a fusillade of gunfire erupted, the autopsy report subsequently reflecting that Officer Vaughn was killed by a bullet entering his body at the front side of his chest in the heart area. When Officer Barrentine saw the body of his fellow-officer fall to the ground, he started shooting through the Oldsmobile in the general direction of the right front door. Photographic exhibits introduced in evidence show that two of such shots were fired into the body of the Oldsmobile at a point slightly below the back windshield. The back windshield was completely shot out and after the shooting appellant was found in a semi-conscious condition lying on the ground upon an empty .38 Smith & Wesson revolver. Appellant was hospitalized and survived the shooting, it being found he had been shot five times in the course of the exchange of fire. During the excitement of the gunfire, Kumpe temporarily escaped but was captured in a matter of minutes. Officer Barrentine shot twice at Kumpe but missed. Linda Ford had been riding in the front seat of the Oldsmobile between Kumpe, the driver, and appellant, who was seated at the right side. During the incident, she jumped from the car and ran back toward the police cars for cover. She testified that appellant had a gun in his hand when he opened the right door of the Oldsmobile to meet Officer Vaughn and that appellant started shooting, being the first to fire. Appellant testified briefly in this case but at no time did he attempt to place a gun in the hands of Linda Ford. Since Kumpe was out of the car and unarmed; Linda Ford had no gun and Officer Vaughn was slain by a bullet fired into his body as he faced appellant, the physical facts leave little, if any, doubt as to the fatal bullet coming from a gun fired by appellant. Appellant's court-appointed attorney began intensive labors in the case in April of 1965. The case was not reached for trial until late December of that year. Lengthy hearings were conducted by the court on various motions by appellant during the months of preparation for the trial. The first motion of appellant was that he be returned from the State Penitentiary to the Pulaski County Jail for convenience of his counsel in conferring with him and preparing for his trial. The court, on the same day of the motion, April 5, 1965, entered the requested order. Appellant therefore was permitted to remain in jail instead of the penitentiary for some seven months. The second motion on behalf of appellant was for a sweeping order requiring the State to submit to appellant's attorneys each and all of its tangible objects which were to be used in evidence, for copying or photographing, and including ballistics tests reports on the guns of Officers Vaughn and Barrentine and upon the .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver alleged to have belonged to appellant; fingerprint reports, if any, of appellant; autopsy report of Dr. Leo Davenport; the coroner's report as to Officer Vaughn; paraffin test reports as to appellant, and all photographs of police vehicles at the scene. The motion continued by requesting that the three guns involved in the gunfire be turned over to appellant's attorneys for private and independent examination, the same request being made as to the bullets recovered from the body of appellant and the empty shells of the gun alleged to have belonged to appellant. Following hearing, the court granted appellant all of the relief sought in the motion. When the defense had completed its private examination of tangible, documentary and photographic evidence relied upon by the State, the prosecution moved that appellant be required to make available the results of the ballistics tests on the three guns involved. The court granted this motion, directing appellant, by his attorneys, to file with the clerk as part of the record of proceedings the ballistics report of Stanton O. Berg, Firearms Examiner of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Appellant objected to this order but nevertheless complied therewith. We note here that the order of the court did not relate to the introduction of the ballistics report in evidence, but solely to its availability to the prosecution as a part of the record. Appellant moved for a change of venue, alleging that he could not receive a fair and impartial trial in Pulaski County. The motion involved the testimony and affidavits of some two hundred persons on each side of this contention. A separate volume of transcript is devoted to this motion for change of venue alone. The motion for change of venue was heard and denied, and thereafter appellant filed a motion to disqualify the trial court because of alleged personal prejudice and bias toward the accused. Here again, a lengthy formal hearing was conducted and the motion was denied. The next motion filed on behalf of appellant was to quash the jury panel. A formal hearing was held, including the taking of testimony of all three jury commissioners, and the motion was denied. We note that no question is raised on this appeal relating to the qualification of any juror selected to try the case. The case was finally reached for trial in December, 1965. The trial proper took five days. At the outset of the trial all witnesses were individually called to be sworn and the rule was placed upon them. It is significant that Linda Ford and Mary Louise Roberts did not appear to be sworn. Early in the trial of the case, the court permitted the State, over the objection of appellant, to read into evidence the testimony of Linda Ford and Mary Louise Roberts as given on direct and cross examination at appellant's first trial. Prior to admitting this evidence, the court required the State to introduce proof of its diligent efforts to locate and serve subpoenas upon the witnesses to compel their attendance and on some three occasions during this proof, the court commented that he much preferred to have the witnesses personally present if possible. The court found that the witnesses were unavailable through no fault of the prosecution and admitted the testimony under the provisions of Ark.Stat.Ann. § 28-713 (Repl. 1962). At the conclusion of the first trial, appellant was found guilty and the jury imposed the death penalty upon him. At the end of this trial, appellant was again found guilty of murder in the first degree but the jury spared his life and fixed his sentence at life imprisonment. The case reaches us on appeal involving a voluminous record, the printed volume of argument on behalf of appellant comprising 263 pages. Appellant requested, and was granted, the privilege of arguing the case orally prior to submission. On appeal appellant urges twelve points: 1. Suppression of evidence. 2. The order requiring defendant's counsel to file the report of its ballistics expert. 3. Denial of motion to disqualify the trial court. 4. Prejudicial comments of the court during the conduct of the trial. 5. Prejudicial comments of the court to the jury. 6. Permitting the State to read into evidence the transcript of previous testimony of Linda Ford and Mary Louise Roberts. 7. Denying defendant's motion to quash the regular, alternate and special jury panels. 8. Refusal of the court to admit defendant's hospital records into evidence. 9. Denial of defendant's petition for a change of venue. 10. Contentions as to error in instructions given or refused by the court. 11. Refusal of the court to instruct the jury on manslaughter. 12. Refusal of the court to reduce the charge against appellant from first degree murder to second degree murder. We discuss appellant's points in the order in which they have been enumerated.