Opinion ID: 1580342
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Rutledge argues that the circuit court erred in refusing to grant his motion for a directed verdict. This court will consider an appellant's insufficiency-of-the-evidence argument prior to considering other arguments. See Mitchell v. State, 323 Ark. 116, 913 S.W.2d 264 (1996). When the court conducts such a review, it does so using the following standard, as set out in Williams v. State, 331 Ark. 263, 962 S.W.2d 329 (1998): Motions for directed verdict are treated as challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence. Johnson v. State, 326 Ark. 3, 929 S.W.2d 707 (1996); Penn v. State, 319 Ark. 739, 894 S.W.2d 597 (1995). When a defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence convicting him, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the state. Dixon v. State, 310 Ark. 460, 470, 839 S.W.2d 173 (1992). Evidence is sufficient to support a conviction if the trier of fact can reach a conclusion without having to resort to speculation or conjecture. Id. Substantial evidence is that which is forceful enough to compel reasonable minds to reach a conclusion one way or the other. Id. Only evidence supporting the verdict will be considered. Moore v. State, 315 Ark. 131, 864 S.W.2d 863 (1993). Williams, 331 Ark. at 265, 962 S.W.2d at 330 (quoting McGehee v. State, 328 Ark. 404, 410, 943 S.W.2d 585, 588 (1997)). Premeditation and deliberation may be inferred from the type and character of the weapon used, the manner in which the weapon was used, the nature, extent, and location of the wounds inflicted, and the conduct of the accused. See Chase v. State, 334 Ark. 274, 973 S.W.2d 791 (1998). In this case, Rutledge called the victim from his grandmother's house, took a .32 caliber revolver from the top of her refrigerator, and drove his grandmother's car to the home of the victim's sister where the victim was visiting. He talked to Williamson from the doorway and then walked away when she refused to come outside. He was frustrated by this and later returned with a pistol which he used to hit Williamson on the left side of her head. Following that, he dragged Williamson from her chair by her hair into the kitchen and told her to get [her] motherfucking ass up. He then shot her at very close range in the right side of her head with the pistol. As already indicated, Dr. Sterner testified that due to the grayish black sooty material around the wound, the barrel of the gun was extremely close, if not touching, the hair or scalp area of Williamson, when the gun was fired. After shooting her, he carried the victim over his shoulder to his grandmother's car and drove away with her body in the back seat. He failed to stop immediately when a Little Rock police officer flashed his car's blue lights and turned on his siren, and only came to a stop when he was forced to do so by another vehicle at the I-30 bridge. We conclude that from these circumstances, premeditation and deliberation can be inferred when viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, as we are required to do. We further conclude that substantial evidence supports Rutledge's conviction. Accordingly, the circuit court did not err in denying his motion for a directed verdict.