Opinion ID: 1354167
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prior Threats

Text: For her last point for reversal, Appellant argues that the trial court erred in admitting testimony of Appellant's prior bad acts and statements made by her about killing her husband. The evidence in question came from six witnesses. The first, Brenda Cranford, testified that, during the warm months of 1997, Appellant asked if Brenda had any knowledge of how she could do away with Bill and there not be any trace to be traced back to her such as poison, pesticides and things like that. Cranford stated that approximately four to six weeks after Appellant's inquiry, Bill Dyer was hospitalized. Busta Willis testified that during the fair season of 1998, Appellant had confided in Willis that she and her boyfriend had been caught in an extramarital affair by her boyfriend's wife. According to Willis, Appellant stated that her boyfriend's wife told her that she was going to tell Appellant's husband about the affair. When Willis asked Appellant if she was going to get out of her marriage, Appellant stated that the only way that she could get out of it was if her husband were dead. Debbie Hibbs, the girlfriend of Steven Swim, testified that about one month prior to the murder, she overheard a conversation between Appellant and Swim. According to Hibbs, Appellant said that she wished she knew someone that could kill her husband, and Steven said, `I might know somebody that can help you,' and then he just kind of laughed. The remainder of the challenged testimony was provided by Appellant's three daughters. Kelli Dyer, the youngest daughter, testified that she suspected Appellant's involvement in her father's murder because Appellant had made threats before that she wishe[d] my dad was dead, and that she was gonna kill him[.] Kelli stated that within three years prior to the murder, one of Appellant's boyfriends, a farm-hand that had lived with the family, asked Kelli if she would move away with him and Appellant if they were to get rid of her father. Kelli stated that they were talking about making it look like a farming accident so they could collect more insurance money. Kelli also described an incident involving a glass of iced tea prepared for her father by Appellant: My mama told me before that she was gonna get rid of dad, and a week later we were eating supper, and dad drank some tea, and he took a drink of it, and he said, he said, Something's wrong with this tea. And I was like, Well, let me taste it, and he handed me the glass of tea, and mom jumped up and grabbed it, and she said, you know, she took it from me, and she went towards the sink with it, and she acted like she took a drink of it and she dumped it out, and she said, Nothing's wrong with this tea. I don't taste anything. And later that night dad, after we finished supper, dad got up and he was real pale, and he laid down on the couch, and he got up later off the couch and he collapsed on the concrete, and he busted his head open[.] According to Kelli, her father was hospitalized that night. This was the same period of hospitalization described by Brenda Cranford. Jodi Dyer, Appellant's middle daughter, testified about an incident that occurred when Appellant worked for a doctor in DeQueen. Jodi stated that one afternoon when she stopped by the office, she saw Appellant and Dr. Brown talking. Jodi stated that prior to that date, she had had an argument with her father that resulted in her being disciplined. According to Jodi, Dr. Brown told her that she should not have to put up with her father's discipline, and that they could kill her father by giving him a pill that would speed up his heart and it would look like a heart attack and nobody would ever know. In response to Dr. Brown's statement, Appellant asked Jodi if she would tell anybody if that happened. Jodi responded that she would. Jodi also testified about an incident involving one of her former boyfriends, in which Appellant told her that she knew the boy hunted a lot and was good with a gun. Appellant then asked Jodi: Why don't you ask him if he would go hunting with your dad and make it look like an accident? Lastly, Appellant's oldest daughter, Nicki Harris, testified that during the three years before the murder, Appellant made ongoing threats about killing her father. On one of those occasions, Appellant informed Nicki that Appellant's boyfriend, Chuck Lange, knew people, and that he could have him killed, or knew how she could get stuff to kill him. Nicki also described an occasion in which Appellant stated that if she killed her husband, she would not feed the family's pigs for several days so that she could then dispose of her husband's body by throwing it in the pig pen, where the pigs would eat it. Appellant objected to the foregoing testimony on the ground that the acts and statements were too remote and that the probative value of the evidence was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, in violation of Ark. R. Evid. 403. The trial court allowed the testimony under Ark. R. Evid. 404(b), but limited the State to acts or statements that occurred within three years prior to trial. On appeal, Appellant argues only that the trial court's ruling is erroneous under Rule 403. There is no merit to this argument. Rule 404(b) provides: Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. The test for admitting evidence under Rule 404(b) is whether evidence of the other act has independence relevance. Haire, 340 Ark. 11, 8 S.W.3d 468. Evidence is indisputably relevant if it proves a material point and is not introduced solely to prove that the defendant is a bad person. Id. Although evidence may be relevant under Rule 404(b), it nonetheless may be excluded under Rule 403 if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or confusion of the issues. See Jones v. State, 340 Ark. 390, 10 S.W.3d 449 (2000). Trial courts have broad discretion in deciding evidentiary issues, including the admissibility of evidence under Rules 403 and 404(b), and those decisions will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Id.; Haire, 340 Ark. 11, 8 S.W.3d 468. Appellant was charged with having killed her husband, alone or in conjunction with Steven Swim. It was the State's theory that Appellant did not actually commit the act that killed her husband. Rather, the State alleged that Swim fired the shot that killed the victim, but that he had done so at Appellant's request. It was thus crucial to the State's case to show Appellant's intent or motive to kill her husband. As this court has held, intent or state of mind is seldom capable of proof by direct evidence and must usually be inferred from the circumstances surrounding the killing. Gaines, 340 Ark. 99, 8 S.W.3d 547. Thus, [t]hreats made by a defendant prior to the time a homicide occurred are admissible to establish motive and ill will, even where they are never communicated to the victim. Id. at 111, 8 S.W.3d at 555 (citing Starling v. State, 301 Ark. 603, 786 S.W.2d 114 (1990); Pitts v. State, 273 Ark. 220, 617 S.W.2d 849 (1981); Lang v. State, 258 Ark. 504, 527 S.W.2d 900 (1975)). In Lang , this court held that there was no error in admitting testimony that, two years prior to the murder of her husband, the defendant had asked the witness if he knew anyone that she could hire to kill her husband, for which she would pay $10,000 to $30,000 from the insurance proceeds. This court held: The testimony was properly admitted in evidence. Threats, although not communicated to the victim of the homicide, are admissible as tending to show ill will and motive. Crowe v. State, 178 Ark. 1121, 13 S.W.2d 606 (1929). Remoteness in time is to be considered when the interval between former difficulties and the homicide is so great as to indicate that they had their origin in independent causes. Billings v. State, 52 Ark. 303, 12 S.W. 574 (1889). In McElroy v. State, 100 Ark. 301, 140 S.W. 8 (1911), we upheld the admissibility of threats made about a year and a half before the homicide. Underhill points out, with regard to proof of marital difficulties, that the fact that such troubles cover a period of years and continue down to the death strengthens such evidence. Underhill, Criminal Evidence, 645 (5th ed., 1957). Id. at 505, 527 S.W.2d at 901. In the present case, Appellant's prior threats to kill her husband were highly probative of her ill will toward him and of her motive or intent to kill him, especially since she had evidently succeeded in her threats. They further demonstrate her willingness to solicit others to carry out her plans, just as she had done by getting Steven Swim to commit the murder. We agree with the State that the probative value of the prior threats is strengthened by the fact that they were made throughout the three-year period preceding the murder, thus establishing a continuing course of conduct that persisted until the victim's death. Furthermore, the testimony offered by Kelli Dyer about Appellant's apparent attempt to poison the victim was highly probative of Appellant's motive and intent to kill him. We thus conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that the probative value of this evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to Appellant.