Carey v. State
| Decision Date | 02 March 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. CR 05-782.,CR 05-782. |
| Parties | Freddie CAREY, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
James P. Clouette, Little Rock, for appellant.
Mike Beebe, Att'y Gen., by: Clayton K. Hodges, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellant.
Appellant Freddie Carey appeals from his conviction for rape and his sentence of life imprisonment.1 His sole assertion on appeal is that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict as there was insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction for rape. Specifically, he argues that the sexual intercourse with the victim was consensual, but even if it was not, he did not have the requisite intent to rape due to mental disease or defect. We affirm the judgment of conviction.
A review of the record reveals that during the summer of 2000, the victim, Rose Melton, was visiting her son at his house in a Little Rock trailer park and cleaning up his yard when she met Carey. He had driven up in his car and was talking to Ms. Melton's step-granddaughter, when Ms. Melton walked over to the car to ensure that her step-granddaughter was all right. When she did, Carey began talking to her and told her that they should get together some time. Ms. Melton explained that she was recently divorced and that she was not really interested. Carey then asked her her name and she told him. Ms. Melton, at the time, was wearing a tee shirt which reflected the name of her employer, Central Flying Service.
Sometime later, Carey called Ms. Melton at work and asked to get together. Ms. Melton again told Carey that she was not interested. He continued to call her at work, and, eventually, she gave him her home telephone number because she did not think it was a "good thing" for him to continue to call her at work, and she could reiterate that she was not interested. Carey called Ms. Melton two or three times at home, and similar conversations took place.
On July 5, 2000, Ms. Melton was at her home drinking beer after she had finished cleaning her own yard. At around 8:30 p.m., Carey called and inquired about getting together. Ms. Melton initially told him no, but eventually invited him over, because she was lonely and because she thought that she could convince him that she was not interested in dating. After giving him directions to her house, Carey arrived at around 9:00 p.m.
After entering the house, Carey told Ms. Melton that her house was "nice" and that he wanted to look around. She showed him around her home, and when they entered the bedroom, Carey began to kiss Ms. Melton and "pull on [her.]" Ms. Melton told Carey that they were not going to do anything "like [that]" and to stop. She also tried to push him away, telling him that he did not know her and that they were going to sit down and talk. He then pulled her close, trying to kiss her, and pulled her clothes. All the while, Ms. Melton said "no" and told him that they did not know each other.
Carey next "got a little bit rough" with her, according to her description, and continued to pull at her clothes, as he forced her onto the bed. Ms. Melton continued to try to talk him out of it. She begged him not to "do this," and he slapped her in the face five or six times, hurting her mouth and lip, and knocking some teeth loose. At some point, he penetrated her with his penis. After the rape, she told him that she needed to go to the bathroom. He allowed her to go but followed her into the bathroom. When she was finished using the bathroom, he escorted her back to the bedroom holding onto her arm or waist. He next pulled the comforter from her bed and threw it onto the floor. He then raped her again.
At another point, Ms. Melton talked him into stopping and told him she was thirsty. He escorted her into the kitchen where they each had a beer. He then took her back to the bedroom where they had intercourse again. This continued until around 4:00 a.m., when Carey told Ms. Melton that he had to go to work. Carey washed in her bathroom, kissed her goodbye, and left Ms. Melton's home. Ms. Melton drank another beer and went to sleep. Later that morning, she called into work and then called her doctor's office. She went to see her doctor, who did a rape exam.
Ms. Melton reported the rape to the police and initially said that her rapist was a stranger. On July 24, 2000, however, she informed Detective Laura Pritchett of the Little Rock Police Department that she knew her rapist's first name and where he worked. In September 2000, the police showed her a photographic lineup, and she identified Carey.
Carey was charged with rape by forcible compulsion. Following a trial on the charge, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Carey mounts one claim for reversal, which is that the State failed to present substantial evidence to support the conviction. He claims that Ms. Melton's failure to originally tell police officers the truth raises suspicion about her story. He further asserts that there was no valid reason for her delay in reporting the rape or any reason to lie to police officers. He contends that merely because Ms. Melton suffered bruises or lacerations during intercourse does not equate to rape and might simply have been "rough sex." He urges that Ms. Melton consented to the intercourse. In the alternative, he contends that even if there is sufficient evidence to show that he had intercourse with her without her consent, he did not have the culpable mental state required for a conviction. He submits that because he presented evidence that his IQ is 58, as well as evidence of mental disease or defect, and the effect of his failure to take his medication, such evidence should be taken into account when determining whether he intended to commit rape. He concludes that Ms. Melton's actions were too confusing for him to know that she did not consent to the intercourse, and, for that reason, his conviction should be reversed.
In reviewing sufficiency-of-the-evidence claims, this court uses the substantial-evidence test, and we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. See Williams v. State, 363 Ark. 395, 214 S.W.3d 829, (2005).
While not raised by the State, it appears that Carey's sufficiency argument was not preserved under our rules of criminal procedure. Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 33.1 provides, in pertinent part:
(a) In a jury trial, if a motion for directed verdict is to be made, it shall be...
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