Baughman v. State

• Decision Date: 01 May 2003
• Docket Number: No. CA 02-631.,CA 02-631.
• Citation: 110 S.W.3d 740
• Parties: James Arnold BAUGHMAN v. STATE of Arkansas.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

110 S.W.3d 740

James Arnold BAUGHMAN v. STATE of Arkansas.

No. CA 02-631.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

May 1, 2003.

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Taylor Law Firm, by: W.H. Taylor, Fayetteville; and Bradley L. Karren, Bentonville, for appellant.

Mike Bebee, Att'y Gen., by: Jeffrey A. Weber, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

W.H. "DUB" ARNOLD, Chief Justice.

This appeal, by appellant James Arnold Baughman, is from a judgment of conviction for one count of capital murder and one count of second-degree murder from Benton County Circuit Court. Baughman was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole; and, a twenty-year sentence on the second-degree murder conviction. Baughman appeals on multiple grounds which include: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying Baughman's motion for direct verdict; (2) whether the trial court erred when it denied Baughman's motion for change of venue; and (3) whether the trial court erred when it denied Baughman's motion to submit extended jury questionnaires. We conclude that all points raised are without merit, and affirm.

Appellant James Baughman traveled to Arkansas from South Carolina with Rose Cushman on or about October 30, 1999. While in Arkansas, Baughman murdered Joann Kneece and Floyd Suggs, for approximately $40,000. Etheridge Kneece, Joann Kneece's estranged husband, hired Baughman, Cushman, and two other individuals to carry out the murders. After the murders took place, Baughman and Cushman hid the victims' bodies in a remote area in southwest Missouri.

On October 26, 2001, Baughman was tried before a jury in Benton County, Arkansas, and concluded with a jury verdict on November 9, 2001. The jury found appellant Baughman guilty of capital murder for the death of Joann Kneece and guilty of second-degree murder for the death of Floyd Suggs. Baughman was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole, and to twenty years in the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

When a defendant makes a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. Engram v. State, 341 Ark. 196, 15 S.W.3d 678 (2000); Jones v. State, 336 Ark. 191, 984 S.W.2d 432 (1999); Bell v. State, 334 Ark. 285, 973 S.W.2d 806 (1998); Bailey v. State, 334 Ark. 43, 972 S.W.2d 239 (1998). It is well settled that a motion for a directed verdict is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Atkinson v. State, 347 Ark. 336, 64 S.W.3d 259 (2002); Smith v. State, 346 Ark. 48, 55 S.W.3d 251 (2001) (citing Durham v. State, 320 Ark. 689, 899 S.W.2d 470 (1995)). The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Smith, supra. Substantial evidence is evidence forceful enough to compel a conclusion one way or the other beyond suspicion or conjecture. Smith, supra. Only evidence supporting the verdict will be considered. Smith, supra.

Circumstantial evidence provides the basis to support a conviction if it is consistent with the defendant's guilt and inconsistent with any other reasonable conclusion. Sublett v. State, 337 Ark. 374, 989 S.W.2d 910 (1999). Such a determination is a question of fact for the fact-finder to determine. Sheridan v. State, 313 Ark. 23, 852 S.W.2d 772 (1993). The credibility of witnesses is an issue for the jury and not the court. Phillips v. State, 344 Ark. 453, 40 S.W.3d 778 (2001). The trier of fact is free to believe all or part of any witness's testimony and may resolve questions of conflicting testimony and inconsistent evidence. Phillips, supra. We will disturb the jury's determination only if the evidence did not meet the required standards, thereby leaving the jury to speculation and conjecture in reaching its verdict. Phillips, supra. When we review a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we will affirm the conviction if there is substantial evidence to support it. Phillips, supra. Additionally, the longstanding rule in the use of circumstantial evidence is that the evidence must exclude every other reasonable hypothesis than that of the guilt of the accused to be substantial, and whether it does is a question for the jury. Gregory v. State, 341 Ark. 243, 15 S.W.3d 690 (2000).

The jury may resolve questions of conflicting testimony and inconsistent evidence and may choose to believe the State's account of the facts rather than the defendant's. Chapman v. State, 343 Ark. 643, 38 S.W.3d 305 (2001); Bell v. State, 334 Ark. 285, 973 S.W.2d 806 (1998). We have also held that a defendant's improbable explanation of suspicious circumstances may be admissible as proof of guilt. Chapman, supra; Goff v. State, 329 Ark. 513, 953 S.W.2d 38 (1997); Thomas v. State, 312 Ark. 158, 847 S.W.2d 695 (1993).

In this case, Baughman argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion for directed verdict. However, there was substantial evidence of Baughman's guilt. The State presented both physical and circumstantial evidence linking Baughman to the murders of Joann Kneece and Floyd Suggs; therefore, the trial court's decision was correct.

At trial, Rose Cushman testified that she and Baughman traveled from South Carolina to Arkansas in Cushman's van, in order to carry out the murder of Floyd Suggs. Baughman and Cushman were also to convince Joann Kneece to remain in Arkansas so that she would not be able to testify against Etheridge Kneece, her estranged husband, in a criminal matter pending in South Carolina. Cushman further testified that Baughman told her that she would have no part in the murder of Suggs, but he intended to murder Suggs like Mr. Kneece had instructed.

Additionally, Cushman testified that after arriving in Arkansas she and Baughman searched for Ms. Kneece and eventually contacted her. Once they had made contact with Ms. Kneece, Baughman and Cushman disclosed to her that they were in Arkansas to warn her of threats made by Mr. Kneece. Baughman and Cushman, then, followed Ms. Kneece to her home that she shared with Floyd Suggs.

Once at Ms. Kneece's home, Baughman began an argument with Ms. Kneece and Mr. Suggs. While arguing, Baughman pulled out a gun and a metal club. Baughman attacked Ms. Kneece with the metal club until she collapsed. When Ms. Kneece tried to get up, Baughman repeatedly struck her with the club. Baughman also struck Mr. Suggs with the club. Suggs fell to the ground and laid motionless. Cushman testified that Baughman also stabbed Mr. Suggs several times and tried to cut of his head, but was unsuccessful. Cushman testified that Baughman said, "If I brought my machete, I could have done it."

After the murders, Baughman and Cushman draped the bodies in blanket's and trash bags, loaded the bodies in the van they drove from South Carolina, and disposed of the bodies in Missouri. Cushman testified that she drove the van, and Baughman followed in Ms. Kneece's red Ford Taurus.

This testimony, absent the statutory requirement that an accomplice's testimony be corroborated, was certainly sufficient to sustain Baughman's murder convictions. Therefore, the question becomes whether Rose Cushman's testimony was sufficiently corroborated by other evidence. Ark.Code Ann. § 16-89-111(1987).

Arkansas Code Annotated § 16-89-111(e)(1) (1987) provides that a person cannot be convicted of a felony based upon the testimony of an accomplice, unless that testimony is "corroborated by other evidence tending to connect the defendant with the commission of the offense." Corroboration is not sufficient if it merely establishes that the offense was committed and the circumstances thereof. McGehee v. State, 338 Ark. 152, 992 S.W.2d 110 (1999). The test for determining the sufficiency of the corroborating evidence is whether, if the testimony of the accomplice were totally eliminated from the case, the other evidence independently establishes the crime and tends to connect the accused with its commission. Marta v. State, 336 Ark. 67, 983 S.W.2d 924 (1999); Meeks v. State, 317 Ark. 411, 878 S.W.2d 403 (1994). Circumstantial evidence may be used to support accomplice testimony, but it, too, must be substantial. Id. Corroborating evidence need not, however, be so substantial in and of itself to sustain a conviction. Id.

Other evidence that independently establishes Baughman's guilt is that of Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Kokes. Dr. Kokes testified that Mr. Suggs died as a result of being stabbed, having his throat cut, and to a lesser extent, blunt force trauma. Dr. Kokes also testified that Ms. Kneece died of blunt force trauma.

Officer David Slaton of the Berryville Police Department also testified to facts that could independently connect Baughman with the murders. Officer Slaton testified that when Baughman was detained in Berryville, Arkansas, he was standing by Ms. Kneece's red Ford Taurus. Officer Slaton testified that Baughman told him that the car was his. Officer Slaton further testified that Baughman had the keys to the Taurus in his pocket. Moreover, he had the keys to the van, which Ms. Cushman was driving, in his pocket. Inside the van that Baughman and Ms. Cushman drove to Arkansas were various items of evidence connecting Baughman to the murders. These items included bloody clothing, a purse, checkbook, and jewelry belonging to Joann Kneece; and, Floyd Suggs wallet. Further, a watery blood combination was dripping down onto the step plate on the van.

Additionally, Mary Robinette, a forensic biologist at the Arkansas State Crime Lab, testified that she performed approximately twenty-five DNA examinations in this case. Specifically, Robinette testified that blood found on Baughman's right boot was consistent with Floyd Suggs; and, blood found on Baughman's left boot contained a mixture of blood that was consistent with the DNA profile of Joann Kneece and Floyd Suggs.

Therefore, the testimony provided by Rose Cushman that...