Ferguson v State

• Decision Date: 14 December 2000
• Docket Number: 99-999
• Citation: 33 S.W.3d 115
• Parties: JAMES A. FERGUSON, APPELLANT; VS. STATE OF ARKANSAS, APPELLEE; CR 99-999 14 December 2000 APPEAL FROM THE WOODRUFF COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, NO.; HON. HARVEY YATES, JUDGE; AFFIRMED. Donald L. Corbin, Justice. Appellant James A. Ferguson was convicted in the Woodruff County Circuit Court of the first-degree murder of his wife, Brenda Ferguson, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant raises six points for reversal: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; (2) he was denied a speedy trial; (3) the trial court erred in refusing to strike a potential juror for cause; (4) he was prejudiced by a witness's references to his having taken a polygraph test; (5) the trial court erred in refusing to grant a change of venue; and (6) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress taped custodial statements between Appellant and another jail inmate. Our jurisdiction of this appeal is pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 1-2(a)(2). We find no error and affirm. I. Sufficiency of the Evidence Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the first-degree murder of his wife. Specifically, he contends that the proof failed to establish that the body discovered by the sheriff's department was that of his wife. We disagree. The record reflects that on
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

JAMES A. FERGUSON, APPELLANT VS STATE OF ARKANSAS, APPELLEE

CR 99-999

14 December 2000

APPEAL FROM THE WOODRUFF COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, NO. CR-96-19; HON. HARVEY YATES, JUDGE; AFFIRMED.

Donald L. Corbin, Justice.

Appellant James A. Ferguson was convicted in the Woodruff County Circuit Court of the first-degree murder of his wife, Brenda Ferguson, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant raises six points for reversal: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; (2) he was denied a speedy trial; (3) the trial court erred in refusing to strike a potential juror for cause; (4) he was prejudiced by a witness's references to his having taken a polygraph test; (5) the trial court erred in refusing to grant a change of venue; and (6) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress taped custodial statements between Appellant and another jail inmate. Our jurisdiction of this appeal is pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 1-2(a)(2). We find no error and affirm.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the first-degree murder of his wife. Specifically, he contends that the proof failed to establish that the body discovered by the sheriff's department was that of his wife. We disagree.

The record reflects that on March 15, 1996, Brenda Ferguson was contemplating leaving her husband, Appellant. Around 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. that evening, Brenda was seen at a convenience store in McCrory, Arkansas. Her eyes were red and her mascara had run from crying. According to the cashier, Becky Mitchell, Brenda was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a blue windbreaker. Mitchell described the T-shirt as having something about nurses on it -- either "Nurses do it better," or "Nurses are special," or something similar. Mitchell let Brenda use the telephone. After she had done so, Brenda remained inside the store, where she stood near the front, watching out the window. After some time had passed, Brenda asked Mitchell if she could use the restroom. She then left the store, and Mitchell observed her outside in the parking lot. While Brenda was walking across the parking lot, Mitchell noticed a large, light yellow, older Ford truck pull up near her. There were two people in the truck. The driver got out of the truck and was apparently arguing with Brenda. While they were arguing, the driver snatched the blue windbreaker off Brenda. Mitchell could see that Brenda was trying to get away from the driver. Eventually, however, Brenda got into the truck. The driver then drove away, and that was the last time Mitchell saw Brenda.

Around 8:35 p.m. that evening, Brenda made a telephone call to her friend, Ruth Ann Bull. She described Brenda as being upset and having a shaky voice. During the call, Brenda reported that Appellant had been verbally abusing her. Brenda stated that he was on the back porch, playing loud music, and saying things that a normal person would not say. Brenda told her friend that she was going to move out and get an apartment of her own. At one point during their conversation, Brenda told Bull to hold on because she thought Appellant might be listening to their conversation. When Brenda returned to the phone, she reported that she could not find her husband. Before they hung up, Ruth told Brenda that she could stay with her if she needed a place to stay that night. That was the last time Bull spoke to her friend.

Later that same evening, between 10:00 or 10:30 p.m., Chief Stacy Barker, of the McCrory Police Department, was on routine patrol near the Fergusons' home. When he stopped at the intersection adjacent to their house, Barker reported hearing a loud slam, like a tailgate being shut. When he looked over, he saw Appellant standing in his carport closing the tailgate of his truck. He then saw Appellant quickly go inside his house. Barker described Appellant's truck as an older-model, light yellow Ford. He stated that the truck was backed up to the kitchen door.

The next day, Appellant reported his wife missing to the sheriff, Jack Caperton. Appellant reported that Brenda had gone walking the night before and never returned home. He stated that she had been wearing a blue T-shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. He stated that the T-shirt had a picture of a stethoscope on it and was from the Harding School of Nursing. He also stated that she had been wearing her jewelry.

Brenda's body was discovered in a ditch about thirteen miles south of Augusta, Arkansas, on May 1, 1996. She was wearing the clothes described by Appellant and Becky Mitchell. Particularly, the T-shirt she was wearing had a stethoscope and some writing on it. She was also wearing a wristwatch, a ring, and a necklace. She was not wearing any shoes or socks. According to the medical examiner, the body was badly decomposed. There was duct tape around her head, covering her airways. The cause of death was either suffocation from the duct tape or as a result of the skull fractures on the left side of her head.

In addition to the foregoing evidence, the jury also heard the testimony of three men who were in the Woodruff County jail with Appellant. Collectively, they testified that Appellant admitted that he had killed his wife. According to their testimony, Appellant overheard Brenda talking on the telephone and saying that she was going to leave him. When he confronted her in the kitchen, she pulled away from him and fell and hit her head on the stove. Appellant feared that she would call the police when she woke up, so he taped her head with duct tape, put her in a blanket, and put her in his truck. Appellant admitted that she was still alive when he taped her head. While he was placing her in the back of his truck, Appellant saw a police officer go by his house. He was startled and proceeded to move Brenda back into the house. He later put her back into his truck and disposed of her body. The next day, he reported her missing. According to one of the jail witnesses, Charles Rogers, Appellant expressed concern that he had forgotten to remove Brenda's rings and had also forgotten to put shoes on her.

At the conclusion of the State's case, Appellant moved for a directed verdict on the ground that there was not sufficient evidence for the jury to determine the identity of the body. A motion for directed verdict is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Terrell v. State, 342 Ark. 208, 27 S.W.3d 423 (2000). The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Id. Substantial evidence is evidence that is of sufficient certainty and precision to compel a conclusion one way or another. Id. On appeal, this court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and sustains a judgment of conviction if there is substantial evidence to support it. Id.

We conclude that the foregoing constitutes sufficient evidence from which the jury could have determined that the body found in the ditch on May 1, 1996, was that of Brenda Ferguson. Despite the fact that the body was very decomposed when it was found, there was sufficient evidence that it was Brenda Ferguson: (1) she was wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt with a stethoscope and nursing theme on it, just as was described to police by Appellant and Becky Mitchell; (2) she had on jewelry, as described by Appellant to the police; and (3) she had duct tape on her head and was not wearing any shoes, as Appellant had described to his fellow inmates. Additionally, the jury heard testimony to the effect that March 15, 1996, was the last time that anyone saw Brenda Ferguson alive. We thus affirm the trial court's denial of a directed verdict.

II. Speedy Trial

For his second point for reversal, Appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss for violation of his right to a speedy trial. Rules 28.1(c) and28.2(a) of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure require the State to bring a defendant to trial within twelve months from the date a charge is filed in circuit court. See Eubanks v. Humphrey, 334 Ark. 21, 972 S.W.2d 234 (1998). If, however, prior to that time, the defendant has been arrested and is lawfully set at liberty, the defendant must be brought to trial within twelve months from the date of arrest. Rule 30.1 provides that if a defendant is not brought to trial within the requisite time, he or she will be discharged, and such discharge is an absolute bar to prosecution of the same offense and any other offense required to be joined with that offense. Once the defendant presents a prima facie case of a speedy-trial violation, i.e., that the trial is or will be held outside the applicable speedy-trial period, the State has the burden of showing that the delay was the result of the defendant's conduct or was otherwise justified. Dean v. State, 339 Ark. 105, 3 S.W.2d 328 (1999); Eubanks, 334 Ark. 21, 972 S.W.2d 234.

The first thing we must determine is when the speedy-trial period commenced. Appellant asserts that the relevant date is May 3, 1996, the date that he was arrested. The State contends that Appellant never produced any evidence showing when he was arrested, and that this court should therefore consider the date the charge was filed, June 24, 1996, as the relevant date. We agree with the State that it is not clear from the record when Appellant was arrested; however, the record demonstrates that Appellant was initially placed in jail on May 7, 1996, and was brought before a judge for a probable-cause determination on May 9, 1996. Accordingly, we will use May 7, as the date that commenced the speedy-trial period. Appellant was not tried until February 3, 1999, 1,002 days after his initial incarceration. Appellant has thus established a prima facie violation of his right to a speedy trial. We must now consider whether there are any periods of time to be excluded from that...