Coggin v. State

• Decision Date: 25 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. CR 03-372.,CR 03-372.
• Citation: 156 S.W.3d 712,356 Ark. 424
• Parties: Kirby Joe COGGIN v. STATE of Arkansas.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

156 S.W.3d 712

356 Ark. 424

Kirby Joe COGGIN v. STATE of Arkansas.

No. CR 03-372.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

March 25, 2004.

James Law Firm, by: William O. James, Jr., Little Rock, for appellant.

Mike Beebe, Att'y Gen., by: Kent G. Holt, Ass't Att'y Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice.

Appellant Kirby Joe Coggin appeals the order of the Craighead County Circuit Court convicting him of the capital murder of his wife Carolyn Sue Coggin. On appeal, Appellant argues that the trial court erred: (1) in denying his motion for directed verdict, as the State failed to provide sufficient evidence that he acted with premeditation and deliberation, and (2) in denying his motion to suppress because the search warrant relied on by authorities lacked any probable cause that a crime had been committed. As Appellant was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment, our jurisdiction is pursuant to Ark. Sup.Ct. R. 1-2(a)(2). We find no error and affirm.

On December 10, 2001, Natalie Barker reported to authorities that her mother, Carolyn, was missing, along with her 1993 white Mazda Protege. Barker, who lived across the street from Appellant and her mother, explained that she last saw her mother on December 6, 2001. She noticed that her mother did not appear to be at home the following evening, but did not grow concerned until the next day when Carolyn was still not at home. Barker called Investigator John Moore, with the Craighead County Sheriff's Office, on December 10 and expressed concern that her mother was missing. Moore, along with Investigator Gary Etter, were assigned to investigate the disappearance of Carolyn.

Moore and Etter attempted to reach Appellant to obtain information about Carolyn and finally met with him on December 14, 2001. During this meeting, Appellant told the investigators that he last saw Carolyn on Friday, December 7. Appellant stated that he believed Carolyn had taken the day off from work because she was not feeling well. He also stated that he had an appointment with his attorney at 2:00 p.m. to discuss filing bankruptcy and that he then went to look for a house where he had heard there might be a job. According to Appellant, on his way home he had a flat tire, and he managed to flag down another driver who gave him a ride to Wal-Mart. At Wal-Mart, Appellant called Carolyn and asked her to bring him some things to repair his flat tire. Carolyn picked Appellant up and drove him to his truck. Appellant told the investigators that Carolyn then got agitated and started asking him if he had a girlfriend. Appellant tried to calm her down and suggested they drop her car off and go get something to eat. They then left her car at a nearby Country Mart grocery store, and Carolyn got in the truck with Appellant. Appellant claimed that Carolyn again started accusing him of cheating on her and grew more agitated, so he took her back to her car and dropped her off between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. Appellant claimed that that was the last time he had any contact with Carolyn. Appellant also told the investigators that it was not like Carolyn to disappear like she had or to not show up for work.

Because Appellant indicated that Carolyn might have left the area, the Arkansas State Police were asked to assist with the investigation. Investigator Phil Carter, with the State Police, met with Appellant on December 19, 2001. During this particular meeting, Appellant stated that Carolyn began to accuse him of having a girlfriend about a week prior to her disappearance, after she found a piece of paper with the names and numbers of two women. He also told Carter that he and Carolyn had been arguing during the day of December 7, so he left home around 3:00 p.m. to find Rob Merrill to see if he had any work for him. He claimed that he went to Merrill's house, but that he was not home, so he drove around for a while until he had the problem with the flat tire. His statements regarding the events that followed were similar to the ones he gave Moore and Etter. Appellant also told Carter that it might be wise to look for Carolyn in rehabilitation facilities in Memphis, Hot Springs, or Little Rock, because he thought she might have checked herself into such a facility.

In the course of investigating Carolyn's disappearance, Moore and Carter interviewed Quinn Greer. Greer told the officers that on December 8, 2001, Appellant came to his home in Black Rock and asked him to go to Jonesboro with him to check on a job. He then told Greer that his wife had left him, and he was going to teach her a lesson by hiding her car. They drove to the Scottish Inn, where Appellant told Greer to drive his truck to a car wash across the street from the Country Mart grocery store. Soon after, Appellant arrived at the car wash driving Carolyn's Mazda Protege. Greer washed Appellant's truck, while Appellant washed Carolyn's car. Appellant then had Greer follow him to the GAW Mini Storage in Walnut Ridge, where he parked Carolyn's car inside Unit 70. Immediately thereafter, Appellant went across the street to a Dollar General Store and purchased two padlocks that he used to secure the storage unit.

On December 27, 2001, after receiving the information from Greer about Carolyn's missing vehicle, authorities obtained a search warrant for Unit 70. When police arrived at the GAW Mini Storage, they discovered two padlocks on the door to Unit 70. Once inside the unit, police discovered the missing vehicle. The vehicle's trunk lining had been removed and was sitting on top of the car. They obtained a subsequent warrant to search the interior of the vehicle and to search other items stored in the unit. In a large utility box, officers discovered Carolyn's body. Inside the trunk of the car were two large trash bags. Inside the trash bags were several Wal-Mart sacks containing various items. Items discovered included a pair of white tennis shoes, paper towels that appeared to be stained with blood, and rubber and latex gloves. Officers also discovered a Wal-Mart bag containing a long-sleeved Duck Head shirt, a pair of blue jeans, a white cap, and a pair of socks. These clothes were later identified as belonging to Appellant.

Later that day, as officers were completing the processing of the crime scene, Appellant arrived at the storage unit. When he saw the police, he began to hurriedly leave. Moore and Carter then followed Appellant. After losing him in traffic, they noticed a truck similar to his parked in a nearby carport. After confirming that the truck belonged to Appellant, officers approached and discovered Appellant hiding in the truck. He was then taken into custody.

Following his arrest, Appellant gave a taped statement claiming that he had a flat tire on December 7 and that Carolyn came to pick him up and take him back to his truck. After he fixed the flat, Carolyn followed him back to town. Appellant drove to the Scottish Inn, where he claimed he left his truck and got into the car with Carolyn, and the two eventually drove to Otwell. Appellant asked her to stop the car, so that he could urinate. Both Carolyn and Appellant got out of the car, and Carolyn, who was agitated, pulled a gun on him and fired two shots. According to Appellant, he then grabbed for the gun, and when he tried to take it away from Carolyn, she fell back and was struck by a bullet. In response to a question about how many times he shot Carolyn, Appellant stated that she "was doing all this jerking and stuff and I was scared to death and I couldn't stand her suffering like that. I didn't know what else to do." Appellant then claimed that he did not know how many times he shot Carolyn. Appellant said that he found a plastic drop cloth in the trunk of Carolyn's car and that he used it to wrap around Carolyn's body. He then placed her body in the trunk of the car. The next morning, Appellant took Carolyn's car to the storage unit in Walnut Ridge. Appellant returned to the storage unit the next morning with a utility box and some duct tape. He then put Carolyn's body inside a couple of trash bags and placed it inside the box.

Appellant was charged with capital murder. A jury trial was held on August 5-8, 2002. Following the presentation of evidence, Appellant was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. From that order, comes the instant appeal.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

For his first point on appeal, Appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict, because the State failed to introduce sufficient evidence proving that he acted with premeditation and deliberation in the death of his wife. Appellant argues that the State merely introduced circumstantial evidence of his mental state.¹ The State counters that circumstantial evidence may constitute sufficient evidence of an accused's mental state, as it did in this case. We find no error and affirm on this point.

We treat a motion for a directed verdict as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Parker v. State, 355 Ark. 639, 144 S.W.3d 270 (2004); Reed v. State, 353 Ark. 22, 109 S.W.3d 665 (2003). This court has repeatedly held that in reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Stone v. State, 348 Ark. 661, 74 S.W.3d 591 (2002). We affirm a conviction if substantial evidence exists to support it. Id. Substantial evidence is that which is of sufficient force and character that it will, with reasonable certainty, compel a conclusion one way or the other, without resorting to speculation or conjecture. Haynes v. State, 346 Ark. 388, 58 S.W.3d 336 (2001).

Circumstantial evidence may provide the basis to support a conviction, but it must be consistent with the defendant's guilt and inconsistent with any other reasonable conclusion. Edmond v. State, 351...