Opinion ID: 1798829
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: the court erred in failing to declare chantina ginn an accomplice.

Text: An accomplice is defined in Ark.Stat.Ann. § 41-303 (Repl.1977): (1) A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense if, with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of an offense, he: (a) solicits, advises, encourages or coerces the other person to commit it; or (b) aids, agrees to aid, or attempts to aid the other person in planning or committing it; or ... There is no evidence whatsoever in this case that Chantina Ginn did anything other than accept part of the loot after the crime was committed. She may have had reason to suspect that Rick and Damon were up to no good when they left Lake Beaver with a gun and a rope and other paraphernalia. Suspicion alone is not enough to make a witness an accomplice as a matter of law. Johnson & Keeling v. State, 259 Ark. 773, 536 S.W.2d 704 (1976).