Crawford v. State, CR

• Decision Date: 30 March 1992
• Docket Number: No. CR,CR
• Citation: 309 Ark. 54,827 S.W.2d 134
• Parties: Darren Jerome CRAWFORD, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 91-248.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 134

827 S.W.2d 134

309 Ark. 54

Darren Jerome CRAWFORD, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

No. CR 91-248.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

March 30, 1992.

Gerald A. Coleman, West Memphis, for appellant.

Brad Newman, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

CORBIN, Justice.

Appellant Darren Jerome Crawford urges this court to reverse his conviction of first-degree murder for which he received a sentence of life imprisonment. Because of a number of prior convictions, appellant was sentenced as an habitual offender. On appeal, appellant claims the evidence was insufficient to support the first-degree murder conviction. He also claims that the trial court erred in allowing the state to cross-examine a defense witness about a prior inconsistent statement that the court had previously ruled inadmissible. We affirm.

Appellant's first and second arguments challenge the sufficiency of the evidence at the close of the state's case and at the close of all the evidence, respectively. In Rudd v. State, 308 Ark. 401, 825 S.W.2d 565 (1992), we recently held that a defendant who goes forward with the production of additional evidence after a directed verdict motion is overruled, waives any further reliance upon the former motion. Consequently, we decide appellant's challenge to the sufficiency of evidence as the evidence existed at the close of the case. Id.

We must affirm if we find substantial evidence to support appellant's conviction. Smith v. State, 306 Ark. 483, 815 S.W.2d 922 (1991). In determining whether there is substantial evidence, we consider only the evidence that is favorable to the state and supports appellant's conviction. Id.

The following evidence was produced at trial. On July 23, 1989, Crawford and two companions, Marlon Malone and Hosea Chestnut, visited the home of Peggy Felton on two occasions. Unica Felton, Peggy Felton's daughter, who was 13 at the time, testified that her mother was not at home on either occasion, but that her grandmother was at the house during the first visit. Unica informed the men that her mother was not home, and they told Unica they would come back later. The men returned in approximately an hour, after the grandmother had left. Unica Felton, her infant brother, and Jessica King, 17, were in the house when the men returned.

The men brought a gun in a paper sack on their return visit to the house. Marlon Malone testified that the gun belonged to Crawford, and that they had picked the gun up at a friend's house after the initial visit to the Felton home. Crawford instructed Malone to bring the gun into the house. Crawford and Malone went into the bedroom occupied by Jiles, and Malone left the bedroom while Crawford stayed in the room with Jiles. A few minutes later, a shot rang out, and Crawford came out of the bedroom saying that he shot Jiles and that it was an accident. Hosea Chestnut called an ambulance, and Unica Felton testified that Crawford, Malone, and Chestnut left the house within two to three minutes of the shooting. After leaving the house, Crawford, Malone, and Chestnut drove to Chicago, Illinois.

Crawford and his companions had left when Officer James Liggett arrived at the Felton home to investigate the shooting. Officer Liggett and another officer discovered Jiles in considerable pain in the back bedroom. Liggett noted that Jiles had been shot once in the right rib cage, and that a live .357 shell was laying on the floor. Liggett testified that he asked Jiles what happened, and Jiles informed him that he had been shot by Darren Crawford. Liggett further testified that Jiles stated that he was asleep when Crawford shot him. Jiles died later that afternoon.

Appellant argues that the evidence is not sufficient to prove that he acted purposefully in causing the death of John Jiles. We have noted that intent may be inferred from the circumstances of the case. Farris v. State, 308 Ark. 561, 826 S.W.2d 241 (1992); Smith, supra. Such circumstances include the character of the weapon used, the manner in which it was used, the nature of the wounds inflicted and the conduct of the accused. In Farris, we recently affirmed the defendant's capital murder conviction even though the state presented no eyewitnesses, no direct evidence from which to determine a culpable state of mind. We relied on the rule that premeditation and deliberation may be inferred from the circumstances established by the evidence. Farris, supra; Davis v. State, 251 Ark. 771, 475 S.W.2d 155 (1972).

In this case, the evidence established by the circumstances was sufficient for the jury to infer that Crawford acted purposefully in killing John Jiles. Particularly important in this case is the fact that appellant used a gun to kill Jiles while Jiles was asleep. Also compelling is appellant's conduct in returning to the Felton home immediately after retrieving a gun and his immediate flight from the state after the shooting, during which time he disposed of the gun.

From the foregoing circumstances, the jury could logically conclude that appellant acted purposefully. Appellant repeatedly stresses all of the evidence tending to support his theory of an accidental shooting. However, in sufficiency of the evidence challenges, we review only the evidence that supports the conviction and do not weigh it against other conflicting proof favorable to the accused. Farris, supra; Ricketts v. State, 292 Ark. 256, 729 S.W.2d 400 (1987). As we find sufficient evidence of appellant's intent, we affirm the trial court's denial of a directed verdict.

Appellant's third allegation of error is that the trial court erred in allowing the state to cross-examine defense witness Hosea Chestnut about a prior...