Choate v. State

• Decision Date: 08 July 1996
• Docket Number: No. CR,CR
• Citation: 925 S.W.2d 409,325 Ark. 251
• Parties: Freddie Wayne CHOATE, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee, 95-1327.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 409

925 S.W.2d 409

325 Ark. 251

Freddie Wayne CHOATE, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee,

No. CR 95-1327.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

July 8, 1996.

William R. Simpson, Public Defender, Donald Thompson, Deputy Public Defender, C. Joseph Cordi, Jr., Deputy Public Defender, Little Rock, for appellant.

Clint Miller, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

JESSON, Chief Justice.

Appellant Freddie Wayne Choate was convicted by a jury of the first-degree murder of Alfred "Pug" McHeran and was sentenced to life imprisonment. His sole allegation on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict. Particularly, he argues that there was insufficient evidence to corroborate the testimony of the victim's widow and State's eyewitness, Francis "Carline" McHeran, whom he claims was an accomplice to the murder. We affirm.

The following evidence, as viewed most favorably to the State, was presented at trial. Carline McHeran testified that she and the victim, Pug McHeran, had been married for two years. Carline, who is white, and Pug, who was black, were homeless. They had been living together in a tent along the Arkansas River for eight years. On the evening of April 13, 1994, the two were at the Greyhound Bus Station in North Little Rock. Pug, an alcoholic, had been drinking whiskey all day. When Carline left the bus station to look for Pug, she found him outside talking to the appellant, who was driving a blue Dodge truck. Carline had never met the appellant before, nor had she seen him with her husband. When she approached the two men, they talked about going to Texarkana. Though Carline did not want to go on the trip, she got in the blue truck, explaining that she followed her husband wherever he went.

Carline sat in the middle of the cab between the two men. Appellant was driving. The three headed toward Texarkana before making a U-turn and proceeding toward Hensley in Pulaski County. Appellant and Pug began fighting over a whiskey bottle that Pug had. During the course of the argument, appellant, claiming to be from the Aryan nation, stated that he "hated niggers" and interracial couples. According to Carline, appellant repeatedly stated he was "going to shoot that nigger." The argument escalated, and Pug wanted to get out of the truck. Appellant, who had been transferring a gun from one hand to the other, stopped the truck and shot Pug, causing him to fall forward. As Carline was leaning Pug back up, she noticed blood on the right sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. Appellant repeatedly threatened to kill Carline, telling her "I can kill you and get by with it." They proceeded down Cemetery Road in Hensley, where, at appellant's direction, Carline opened the passenger door of the truck, and the two pushed Pug out with their feet.

Michael Scroggins discovered the victim's body shortly after 11:00 p.m. on April 13. Officers from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office arrived shortly after 11:30 p.m. Desiree Bell, who lived on a gravel road off Cemetery Road, was driving home when she observed the police. Bell testified that, after driving past the scene, she noticed an unfamiliar Dodge truck parked at the end of Cemetery Road. After the police were gone, she saw the truck drive back and forth down Cemetery Road.

Carline testified that, after her husband was pushed out of the pick-up, she and appellant got lost on Cemetery Road for approximately three to four hours. On the way to Heber Springs, they stopped at a Shell Station on Sixth Street in Little Rock, where Carline called her daughter, Tanya "Tammy" Moore. Carline pleaded with her daughter to come get her, telling her "it was life or death." She then hung up the phone without giving Tammy the phone number, as she was afraid that if her daughter came to get her, appellant would "get them both."

Upon arrival in Heber Springs on April 14, appellant and Carline stopped to eat before checking into the Holiday Inn Express at approximately 10:00 a.m. Carline went to the front desk and inquired about the cost of a room. She then went outside to get money from appellant and returned to the front desk. She explained that she did not tell the hotel personnel anything because appellant had threatened to kill her. Appellant and Carline checked into Room 117 of the hotel. Once in the room, appellant told her to throw the bloodied shirt she was wearing in a trash bin. Appellant, who had told Carline he was a painter, left the room at approximately 6:00 a.m. the next day to go to work. Carline then called her sister, Patsy Yarberry, and told her where she was. Yarberry, who had to go to work, called Tammy and told her to call the police. Officers found Carline at the hotel that morning, and after questioning her, arrested appellant for the murder.

Officer Sean O'Nale of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office recovered the bloodied shirt from the hotel room and carpeting from the blue Dodge truck and sent both to the State Crime Lab. Jane Parsons, a serologist with the State Crime Lab, compared the victim's blood with the blood on the submitted items. According to Parsons, less than one percent of the African-American population in the United States would have had the combination of enzymes found on the auto carpet. It was her opinion that the blood on the carpet was consistent with the victim's blood. Parsons further opined that approximately two percent of the African-American population would have the combination of enzymes found on the shirt. There was nothing inconsistent with the blood on the shirt and the victim's blood. Dr. William Sturner, Chief Medical Examiner of the State Crime Lab, performed the autopsy on the victim and determined that his death was caused by a single gunshot wound to the head, which entered above the victim's left eyelid and exited through the back of the right side of the head.

The trial court, over the State's objection, concluded that there was sufficient...