Court Opinion

ID: 9776763
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:44:23.734305+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:20.760548
License: Public Domain

Lawson Cloninger, Judge. Appellant, Rickey Gene Bell, was charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping on November 24,1980. He was convicted by jury verdict and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment. He now brings this appeal. In viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee, as we must do on appeal, we find that on the morning of November 24,1980, the state’s principal witness, Donnie Payton, was working at Cross Roads Amoco Service Station in Independence County, Arkansas. Appellant, Rickey Gene Bell, drove into the service station and got one dollar’s worth of gas. He paid for the gasoline and left. Approximately twenty minutes later, he came back to the service station and asked Mr. Payton to fill up the gasoline tank. Mr. Payton thereupon went back into the service station and appellant followed him. Appellant put a gun to Mr. Payton’s head and told him to open the cash register. Appellant subsequently took between $150 and $200 out of the cash register. He then told Mr. Payton to get into the car and they left together. They rode around for approximately twenty to thirty minutes, at which time appellant let Mr. Payton out of the car on a country road. Appellant’s first point for reversal is that the trial court erred in its ruling regarding the extent to which the state would be allowed to prove past convictions for the purpose of impeaching appellant’s credibilty on the witness stand. Before trial, appellant sought a preliminary ruling regarding the extent to which details of previous convictions would be admissible. The trial court allowed proof beyond the fact of felony conviction and appellant alleges that this was error. The trial court, however, limited the inquiry by the prosecution to whether or not appellant was convicted of a felony and what that felony was. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 28-1001, Rule 601 (a) (Repl. 1977) reads in pertinent part: For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, evidence that he has been convicted of a crime shall be admitted, but only if the crime (1) was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year under the law under which he was convicted, and the court determines that the probative value of admitting this evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect to a party or a witness, or (2) involves dishonesty for false statement regardless of the punishment. Appellant specifically cites Jones v. State, 274 Ark. 379, 625 S.W.2d 471 (1981) for this point. In Jones, supra, appellant was charged with sexual abuse in the first degree. The defense counsel presented a pre-trial motion asking the court to rule that if Jones elected to testify the prosecution could not impeach his credibility by showing that Jones had pleaded nolo contendere to an earlier charge of rape. It was argued that the prejudicial effect of the earlier conviction would outweigh its probative value. The Arkansas Supreme Court agreed with appellant, holding that the prejudicial effect of the previous conviction clearly outweighed its value bearing on credibility. The court recognized that at the pre-trial hearing, it was admitted by defense counsel that Jones’s two previous convictions for burglary and theft would be admissible if he testified. Hence, the court held that a third conviction, for a similar sexual assault upon a little boy, would have been of scant probative value as compared to its significantly prejudicial effect on the jury. In Smith v. State, 277 Ark. 64, 639 S.W.2d 348 (1982), appellant was tried and convicted of the offense of rape. On appeal, he contended that it was error for the trial court to deny the defendant’s motion in limine and allow into evidence prior convictions of the defendant. Appellant had previously been convicted of the offenses of burglary and rape, and the trial court ruled that the evidence was admissible to impeach the credibility of appellant. On appeal, the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the trial court, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion, and “these matters must be decided on a case by case basis.” The court specifically recognized that although the evidence might not be admissible under Rule 404 (b), it could be admissible under Rule 609 for a purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness. In Washington v. State, 6 Ark. App. 85, 638 S.W.2d 690 (1982), appellant was convicted of second degree murder, and his only point for reversal was that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion in limine, which sought to prohibit the state from offering evidence of a previous murder conviction. Appellant indicated that he intended to testify in his own defense. The court recognized that where a defendant in a criminal case testifies in his own behalf, his credibility is placed in issue and the state may impeach his testimony by proof of a prior felony conviction. [See Gustafson v. State, 267 Ark. 278, 590 S.W.2d 853 (1979)]. The court also recognized that a trial court has a great deal of discretion in determining whether the probative value of the prior conviction outweighs its prejudicial effect, and the decision of the trial court should not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. See also Cooley v. State, 4 Ark. App. 238, 629 S.W.2d 311 (1982). As set out in Washington, supra, some of the factors which should be considered by the trial court are: 1. Impeachment value of the prior crime. 2. The date of the conviction and the witness’s subsequent history. 3. The similarity between the prior conviction and the crime charged. 4. The importance of the defendant’s testimony. 5. The centrality of the credibility issue. The Arkansas Court of Appeals held in Washington that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the prior felony conviction for purposes of impeaching appellant’s credibility. The court recognized that there was a direct conflict in the evidence. The testimony of the state’s witnesses, if accepted by the jury, would result in a murder conviction. The appellant’s testimony, if accepted by the jury, would have resulted in an acquittal. Therefore, the whole case turned on the resolution of the credibility factor between the state’s witness and the appellant. In the instant case, if appellant had testified, his testimony would have been in direct conflict to the testimony of the state’s principal witness. Hence, we have the same situation as was present in Washington. Furthermore, appellant has failed to show that any unfair prejudice would result from the state introducing the prior felony conviction. It is unclear from the record, but, at one point, the trial court made the statement that the previous convictions dealt with a burglary conviction and a breaking and entering conviction. Hence, it is the opinion of this court that there was no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decision to allow the state to impeach appellant’s credibility by naming the previous felony convictions. Appellant’s second point for reversal is that his right against double jeopardy was violated when the trial court ordered a second trial after the jury could not reach a verdict in the first trial. Upon conclusion of the first trial, the jury retired and deliberated for approximately an hour and fifteen minutes. Upon their return, the foreman informed the court that they had been unable to reach a verdict. The court allowed the jury to deliberate for a while longer. The jury returned after another hour and informed the court that they had still not reached a verdict. The trial judge allowed the jury to retire again. The jury was brought back to the courtroom after two additional hours, and the court asked the foreman if they had made any progress. The foreman told the trial judge that the jury was split down the middle. The court asked the foreman if he thought it would make any difference if the jury had a night’s sleep. The foreman stated that he thought in his opinion it would not. The court thereupon declared a mistrial. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-2140 (Repl. 1977) provides in pertinent part: If, after retirement, [the jury] does not agree in a verdict, and it satisfactorily appears that there is no probability they can agree, the court may discharge them. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-2141 (Repl. 1977) provides: In all cases where a jury is discharged, the cause may again be tried at the same or another term of the court. This very issue was decided by the Arkansas Supreme Court in Beard, Morrison and Cook v. State, 277 Ark. 35, 639 S.W.2d 52 (1982) in which it was held that a defendant’s double jeopardy rights are not violated if he is required to stand trial following a mistrial due to a hung jury. Appellant’s third point for reversal is that the trial court erred in failing to exclude an in-court identification by the alleged victim, which was tainted by a suggestive pre-arrest identification procedure. Appellant bases this assertion on the fact that the state’s principal witness, Donnie Payton, identified appellant in a photographic lineup in which he also viewed five other pictures with similar characteristics of appellant. Previous to the photographic lineup, Donnie Payton had gone through several mug books in which he could not identify the appellant. Appellant’s picture was in one of the mug books, but testimony indicated that this picture was four years old, and that appellant did not look the same. Thereafter, a photographic lineup was provided to Mr. Payton. He subsequently identified appellant as the man who committed the robbery. The rule is that suppression of an in-court identification is not warranted unless the pre-trial photographic lineup was so suggestive as to create a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. Fountain v. State, 273 Ark. 457, 620 S.W.2d 936 (1981). Factors to be considered in testing the reliability of a lineup identification are: 1. Opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime. 2. The witness’s degree of attention. 3. The accuracy of the witness’s prior description of the criminal. 4. The level of certainty demonstrated by the witness at the confrontation. 5. The length of time between the crime and the confrontation. See Fountain, supra; McCraw v. State, 262 Ark. 707, 561 S.W.2d 71 (1978). Applying the factors to the instant case, Donnie Payton identified appellant pursuant to the photographic lineup on the same day that the robbery was committed. He had the opportunity to view the criminal for a long period of time during the robbery and kidnapping. He gave an accurate description of the criminal to the police. Furthermore, he positively identified appellant at the photographic lineup and also in court. Hence, we hold that there was no element of suggestiveness in the pre-trial lineup identification and accordingly, it was not error for the trial court to refuse to suppress the in-court identification. Appellant’s final point for reversal is that the trial court erred in admitting testimony regarding glue-sniffing by the appellant. The state’s counsel referred to appellant sniffing glue during the alleged crime in his opening statement and also, he elicited a statement from Donnie Payton of the incident. Both times, appellant’s counsel moved for a mistrial. His argument was based on Ark. Stat. Ann. § 28-1001, Rule 404 (b) (Repl. 1979), which states that evidence of other crimes or acts is inadmissible to show that the defendant acted in conformity therein. He also cites Rule 403, contending that the probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice to the defendant. This argument is clearly answered by the case of Young v. State, 269 Ark. 12, 598 S.W.2d 74 (1980) wherein it is held that although the general rule is that evidence of other crimes by the accused, not charged in the indictment and information and not a part of the same transaction, is not admissible at the trial of the accused, evidence of other criminal activity is admissible under the res gestae exception to the general rule to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged commission of the offense. See also Euton v. State, 270 Ark. 121, 603 S.W.2d 468 (Ark. App. 1980). Affirmed. Mayfield, C.J., concurs. Cooper and Glaze, JJ., dissent.