Dobbins v. State, CACR12-986
| Decision Date | 24 April 2013 |
| Docket Number | No. CACR12-986,CACR12-986 |
| Court | Arkansas Court of Appeals |
| Parties | PATRICK EUGENE DOBBINS APPELLANT v. STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE |
APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI
Appellant Patrick Dobbins was convicted in a bench trial of aggravated robbery and aggravated residential burglary. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison for each conviction, with the sentences to be served concurrently. The only issue Dobbins raises on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the charges because the State failed to present sufficient evidence that he was armed with a deadly weapon or had represented by word or conduct that he was so armed, an element of both offenses. We affirm the convictions.
At trial, Contonia Gray testified that on February 4, 2012, between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m., someone rang her front doorbell one time and then went to her side door under the carport and rang that doorbell. Gray asked several times who was there, and a male voiceasked for her husband. Gray said that when she said that her husband was not there, the person kicked in her door and she began fighting with him with one hand while calling 911 using her other hand. Gray testified that when the person came into her house, he told her, "Give me your money, I'm going to kill you." Gray stated that the man had a paper bag on his right hand and was pointing directly at her stomach, and she thought that there was a gun in the paper bag. During the scuffle, the paper sack fell off of the man's hand, and Gray realized that he did not have a gun. Gray identified Dobbins as the person who kicked in her door and fought with her.
Dobbins testified in his own defense. He admitted that he had gone to Gray's house looking for her husband because he wanted to buy drugs. However, Dobbins denied that he had fought with Gray, that he had tried to rob anyone, or that he had a paper bag with him.
Dobbins's counsel moved for dismissal of the charges both at the close of the State's case and at the close of all of the evidence. In those motions, counsel argued that the State had failed to make a prima facie case that Dobbins had represented, at any point, that he was armed with a deadly weapon; that a paper sack on a hand "did not show anything"; and that when the sack came off during the fight, it was plain that there was no deadly weapon. Counsel argued that without a deadly weapon, the State was unable to show either aggravated robbery or aggravated residential burglary. Counsel's motions to dismiss were denied, and the trial court found Dobbins guilty of both charges.
A motion to dismiss at a bench trial, like a directed-verdict motion at a jury trial, is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Russell v. State, 2011 Ark. App. 698. In reviewing the denial of a motion to dismiss, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the State, and only that evidence supporting the verdict is considered. Green v. State, 2012 Ark. App. 315, ___ S.W.3d ___. We affirm the conviction if there is substantial evidence to support it; that is, if there is evidence of sufficient force and character to compel a conclusion one way or the other with reasonable certainty, without resorting to speculation or conjecture. Id. The credibility assessment of witnesses is the responsibility of the finder of fact. Turner v. State, 2012 Ark. App. 150, 391 S.W.3d 358.
A person commits aggravated robbery if he "commits robbery . . . and . . . is armed with a deadly weapon; [or] represents by word or conduct that he . . . is armed with a deadly weapon." Ark. Code Ann. § 5-12-103(a)(1)&(2) (Repl. 2006). A person commits aggravated residential burglary if he "commits residential burglary . . . and he . . . is armed with a deadly weapon or represents by word or conduct that he . . . is armed with a deadly weapon." Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-204(a)...
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Dobbins v. State
...armed with a deadly weapon or had represented by word or conduct that he was so armed. The court of appeals affirmed. Dobbins v. State , 2013 Ark. App. 269, 2013 WL 1775610.II. Writ of Error Coram Nobis The petition for leave to proceed in the trial court is necessary because the trial cour......
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Horton v. State
...makes no verbal representation that he is armed, the focus is on what the victim perceived concerning a deadly weapon. Dobbins v. State, 2013 Ark. App. 269, at 4 (citing Feuget v. State, 2012 Ark. App. 182, 394 S.W.3d 310, 312). See also Edwards, 360 Ark. at 419, 201 S.W.3d at 919 (affirmin......
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White v. State, CR–14–33.
...P. 33.1(b) (2013). A motion to dismiss at a bench trial is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. E.g., Dobbins v. State, 2013 Ark. App. 269, at 3, 2013 WL 1775610. ...
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Steward v. State
...one way or another. Id. The credibility assessment of witnesses is the responsibility of the finder of fact. Dobbins v. State , 2013 Ark. App. 269, 2013 WL 1775610. Steward's sole point on appeal is that the circuit court erred by denying his directed-verdict motions. He argues that his con......