Opinion ID: 1686052
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Kurt Morris v. State

Text: Kurt Morris was charged by amended information with kidnapping and rape. Prior to trial, Morris filed a motion for continuance and a motion to sever his case from Burton's and Cloird's. Both motions were denied. At trial, Morris's defense was based on the victim consenting to sexual intercourse with him. He was found guilty and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment for kidnapping and thirty years for rape, to run consecutively. On appeal, Morris argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motions. On the first day of trial, August 24, 1992, Morris filed a motion for a continuance stating that on August 17, he had requested a subpoena for a potential witness, Randy Williams, but on August 20, he discovered that, due to an incorrect address, Williams had not been served. Williams was a friend of the victim's, and had given a statement to the police on January 28 which Morris claimed contradicted the victim's version of the events on January 25 and 26. According to the motion, Williams had moved from the address to which service was attempted. The motion was accompanied by a witness statement signed by Williams, witnessed by a police officer, and dated January 28, 1992. The record is bare of an objection by the state to the motion, and of any arguments made by the parties or rationale for the court's denial. Citing Ark.R.Crim.P. 27.3 which provides in part that a continuance shall be granted only upon a showing of good cause, Morris argues that the testimony that Williams would have given was material and relevant to his case. Further, because William's testimony went directly to the credibility of the victim, Morris urges such testimony would have had a direct impact on the outcome of the trial. Morris, however, failed to provide an affidavit to accompany his motion as required by Ark.Code Ann. § 16-63-402(a) (1987) which reads as follows: A motion to postpone a trial on account of the absence of evidence shall, if required by the opposite party, be made only upon affidavit showing the materiality of the evidence expected to be obtained and that due diligence has been used to obtain it. If the motion is for an absent witness, the affidavit must show what facts the affiant believes the witness will prove and not merely show the effect of the facts in evidence, that the affiant himself believes them to be true and that the witness is not absent by the consent, connivance, or procurement of the party asking the postponement. We have consistently interpreted this statute as requiring the presence of an affidavit in order to justify a continuance due to a missing witness. King v. State, 314 Ark. 205, 862 S.W.2d 229 (1993); Henderson v. State, 310 Ark. 287, 835 S.W.2d 865 (1992). Further, the denial of a continuance when the motion is not in substantial compliance with the statute is not an abuse of the trial court's discretion, and the burden is on the appellant to establish prejudice and abuse of discretion in denying the continuance. The factors to consider in exercising discretion over continuance motions are: (1) the diligence of the movant, (2) the probable effect of the testimony at trial, (3) the likelihood of procuring the attendance of the witness in the event of a postponement, and (4) the filing of an affidavit, stating not only what facts the witness would prove, but also that the appellant believes them to be true. Id. at 292, 835 S.W.2d at 868 (cites omitted). By omitting the affidavit, Morris's counsel failed to show his diligence in obtaining the appearance of Williams since Morris knew as early as January 28, 1992, that Williams was a potential witness. Despite this, Morris delayed locating Williams and learned only four days prior to trial that Williams had moved and could not be served. Nothing was presented to indicate that Williams had avoided service or that his whereabouts were not easily discoverable. Because Morris failed to support his motion as required and to produce a record upon which we can evaluate the soundness of the trial court's decision, we cannot say the trial court erred in denying his motion for continuance. Turning to the second point, the record reflects that, on August 14, Morris filed a motion for severance of trial from that of Burton and Cloird. Ark.R.Crim.P. 22.3 provides as follows: (a) When a defendant moves for a severance because an out-of-court statement of a codefendant makes reference to him but is not admissible against him, the court shall determine whether the prosecution intends to offer the statement in evidence at the trial. If so, the court shall require the prosecuting attorney to elect one of the following courses: (i) a joint trial at which the statement is not admitted into evidence; (ii) a joint trial at which the statement is admitted into evidence only after all references to the moving defendant have been deleted, provided that, as deleted, the statement will not prejudice the moving defendant; or (iii) severance of the moving defendant. Morris cites Chappell v. State, where the Court of Appeals stated: The issue of severance is to be determined on a case by case basis, considering the totality of the circumstances, with the following factors favoring severance: (1) where defenses are antagonistic; (2) where it is difficult to segregate the evidence; (3) where there is a lack of substantial evidence implicating one defendant except for the accusation of the other defendant; (4) where one defendant could have deprived the other of all peremptory challenges; (5) where if one defendant chooses to testify the other is compelled to do so; (6) where one defendant has no prior criminal record and the other has; (7) where circumstantial evidence against one defendant appears stronger than against another. 18 Ark.App. 26, 37, 710 S.W.2d 214 (1986) [citing McDaniel v. State, 278 Ark. 631, 638, 648 S.W.2d 57, 60 (1983)]. Morris bases his argument to support severance on a number of the seven factors including: antagonistic defenses, difficulty in segregation of the evidence, lack of substantial evidence, and deprivation of peremptory challenges. Additionally, Morris argues that his request for severance from Cloird should have been granted because Cloird had been convicted of burglary and theft. To support severance based on antagonistic defenses, Morris points to the fact that statements of Burton implicating Morris were read into the record by police officers at the trial. He argues that these statements in effect amounted to an antagonistic defense [1] , and for this reason the trial court erred in denying him a severance. The state argues that because Morris's name was deleted and not mentioned by the officers when reading Burton's statement, he has failed to show how the trial court failed to comply with Rule 22.3(a). Rule 22.3(a)(ii) provides for deletion of the defendant's name from a codefendant's statement if such deletion will not prejudice the moving defendant. Morris presents no argument that the statements as entered into evidence without reference to him were improper. Concerning the other factors raised and argued in support of his severance argument, the record reflects those matters were never argued below and thus cannot be considered by this court. Morris does argue Cloird had a prior criminal record but Cloird's convictions were never mentioned or presented to the jury. At the close of the trial, the jury was instructed to consider the evidence for or against each defendant separately and render their verdict as if each were tried separately. There is nothing in the record or in Morris's arguments to indicate that the jury was not able to follow this instruction. Because Morris has failed to show any abuse of discretion by the trial court or prejudice to his case, we affirm.