Court Opinion

ID: 9768425
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 06:02:30.603392+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:40.779137
License: Public Domain

David Newbern, Justice, concurring. The entire argument of the appellant is based on the lack of corroboration of the stepdaughter’s testimony. He says his conviction was thus in violation of Ark. Stat. Ann. § 43-2116 (Repl. 1977) which requires testimony of an accomplice be corroborated to serve as the basis of conviction of a felony. It may be that when a teenaged stepdaughter accuses her stepfather of incest after which she leaves town with her boyfriend the policy of requiring corroboration should be at its strongest. However, the defendant in a case like this finds himself in a logically indefensible position. To argue the stepdaughter was an accomplice he must admit the act. Therefore, while I agree with the result reached by the majority, I do so only on the basis of finding the appellant’s argument flawed and unpersuasive. I particularly disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the evidence recited showed Karen Vickers was a non-consenting “victim.”