Dandridge v. State
| Decision Date | 27 April 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. CR,CR |
| Citation | 727 S.W.2d 851,292 Ark. 40 |
| Parties | Fred Roosevelt DANDRIDGE, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 86-190. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
William C. McArthur, Little Rock, for appellant.
Steve Clark, Atty. Gen. by Thedore Holder, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
Fred Roosevelt Dandridge was convicted by a jury of two counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping, terroristic threatening and a felon in possession of a gun. He was sentenced to a total of 182 years imprisonment. On appeal he objects to certain testimony as hearsay and to a remark made by the prosecuting attorney during closing argument.
The victim was a high school student, who was raped twice, once on May 22, 1985 and again on September 11, 1985. The first rape occurred when Dandridge forced the victim at gunpoint into his car, drove her to a nature trail behind the high school, and raped her. A witness, Barbara Montague, was driving near the school about 4:15 p.m. and saw the victim stumbling along the road. She stopped and found the victim crying and hysterical. The victim was holding her stomach and her shirt and pants were open. The victim told Mrs. Montague that a man held a gun on her and raped her. Dandridge objected to the statement as hearsay. The trial judge held the statement admissible as an excited utterance.
The record reflects the rape occurred about one half hour or less before the statement was made. The victim was crying and hysterical. We find no abuse of the trial court's discretion in finding the testimony admissible. Fountain v. State, 273 Ark. 457, 620 S.W.2d 936 (1981); Burris v. State, 265 Ark. 604, 580 S.W.2d 204 (1979).
Montague drove the victim to a grocery store to call her father. Montague testified that the victim became upset because she thought a car, which was parked next door, belonged to her assailant. Dandridge also objected to this statement as hearsay. We do not agree. It was not offered to prove the car belonged to her assailant but to show that the victim made the statement and was upset. A.R.E. Rule 801(c); Bliss v. State, 288 Ark. 546, 708 S.W.2d 74 (1986).
The second rape occurred when Dandridge and another male forced the victim into their car and took her to the same nature trail. Dandridge held her while the other male raped her. Two days later the victim and some of her friends saw Dandridge drive by the school and pull into the parking lot. The victim became upset and went inside the school. One of her friends started to follow her, but Dandridge grabbed her, threatened her, and told her not to tell the victim his name. The friend, however, did identify Dandridge to the victim. On that same day, Carol Kimble, a deputy sheriff, showed the victim a series of photographs of different men. The victim identified Dandridge.
During cross-examination, Kimble was asked whether another student had identified Dandridge to the victim. Kimble did not believe so. On redirect examination, Kimble said Dandridge was in the lineup because other students had said that "Little Fred" (Dandridge) was the person involved in the incident at school that day. The defense objected to this...
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Green v. State
...any prejudice by admonishing the jury to disregard the remark. Smith v. State, 351 Ark. 468, 95 S.W.3d 801 (2003); Dandridge v. State, 292 Ark. 40, 727 S.W.2d 851 (1987). We find no error and affirm the circuit court's rulings regarding Mary's testimony.V. Billy Dale Green's Testimony For h......
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Green v. State
...and cure any prejudice by issuing a jury admonishment to disregard the remark. Smith, 351 Ark. 468, 95 S.W.3d 801; Dandridge v. State, 292 Ark. 40, 727 S.W.2d 851 (1987). Moreover, "where the possible prejudice could have been cured by admonition by the trial court, this court has found no ......
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State v. Pacheco, No. 23152.
...of personal opinion as to defendant's guilt and credibility of witnesses warranted reversal and new trial); see also Dandridge v. State, 292 Ark. 40, 727 S.W.2d 851 (1987) (reference to defendant as a "gross animal" improper; however, prosecutor's misconduct cured by prompt instruction to t......
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Keesee v. State
...of prior statement under Rule 801(d)(1)(ii) after circuit court incorrectly admitted it under Rule 612); Dandridge v. State , 292 Ark. 40, 42, 727 S.W.2d 851, 852–53 (1987) (affirming introduction of hearsay objection as nonhearsay after circuit court ruled it was hearsay but not prejudicia......