Halliburton v. State
| Decision Date | 05 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. CR-19-396,CR-19-396 |
| Citation | 594 S.W.3d 856,2020 Ark. 101 |
| Parties | Cameron HALLIBURTON, Appellant v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Phillip A. McGough, P.A., North Little Rock, by: Phillip A. McGough, for appellant.
Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Brad Newman, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.
On November 29, 2018, appellant Cameron Halliburton was found guilty by a Miller County Circuit Court jury of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Halliburton’s conviction stems from the November 26, 2017 death of Jarrod Klein in Texarkana. Halliburton appeals and presents five points: (1) the circuit court erred in denying Halliburton’s motion to suppress his in-custody statement; (2) the circuit court erred in denying Halliburton’s motion for mistrial based on a prejudicial outburst from the witness stand; (3) the circuit court erred in denying Halliburton’s motion to dismiss the first-degree-murder charge; (4) the circuit court erred in excluding the testimony of Joe Conway pointing to a person as the killer of Jarrod Klein on the basis of relevancy and hearsay; and (5) the circuit court erred in denying Halliburton’s motions for directed verdict. We affirm.
A summary of the facts is as follows.1 Texarkana Arkansas Police Department patrol officer Marcus Luna testified that he responded to a report of a single-vehicle accident at 3:25 a.m. on November 26, 2017, at Linden and East Ninth Streets adjacent to the Family Dollar store (Family Dollar). The accident was reported through the 911 call system. When law enforcement arrived on the scene, officers discovered the accident was a homicide, and detectives were dispatched to the scene. Detective Wayne Easley of the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department testified that when he arrived at the scene in the early morning hours of November 26, 2017, Klein was in the truck that had been reported in the accident. The truck was against a tree immediately behind Family Dollar, and Klein appeared to have suffered multiple stab wounds
. Law enforcement contacted Family Dollar to obtain surveillance videos from the property.
Detective Holly Smith of the Texarkana Arkansas Police testified that she obtained surveillance video from Family Dollar that showed the truck enter the parking lot and travel through the store’s parking lot to where law enforcement found the truck. The video also showed a man later identified as Halliburton attempting to enter the front door of the store at 1:47 a.m. The video shows Halliburton falling into the door in his attempt to enter the store. The video further showed Halliburton walking toward the area where the truck was found.
Detective Smith further testified that after the video from Family Dollar was retrieved, law enforcement began to process the scene and located a receipt from the Flying J truck stop in the truck where Klein was found. Detective Smith testified that the receipt was dated and time stamped. Detective Smith testified that she obtained the Flying J surveillance video from the store, and law enforcement were able to identify the woman who left the store with the items on the receipt, DeQueener Mitchell.
Mitchell testified that she was friends with both Halliburton and Klein. Mitchell further testified that on the night of the murder, she went to the Flying J with Halliburton; Klein; her girlfriend, Tierra; and James Cherry. Mitchell testified that she panhandled until she got a man to buy her some pizza. After she retrieved the pizza, she went to her home with Halliburton, Klein, Tierra, and Cherry. Mitchell testified that the group ate pizza, smoked cigarettes, and smoked "thetic," synthetic marijuana, ("K2"). Mitchell testified that Halliburton had a knife with him when he was at her home that night and that Halliburton always carried a knife. Mitchell further testified that earlier in the evening, Klein and Halliburton were not getting along well, and Halliburton told Klein, "[Y]ou're not going to be running stuff." Mitchell testified that Halliburton and Klein left her apartment together between 11:00 p.m. and midnight. Mitchell suggested to law enforcement that when looking for Halliburton, Halliburton may be at Andrew Glenn’s apartment.
Curtis Flowers testified that he knows both Halliburton and Klein. Flowers also testified that he worked with Halliburton for a brief time. Flowers also testified that Halliburton often carried a knife; that on the night of the murder, Halliburton came to his house and had a black case with a knife in it; that Halliburton told Flowers that he had just stabbed and killed Klein in an altercation; and that Halliburton explained he had been asleep and woke up with Klein punching him in the face and an altercation ensued. Flowers further testified that Halliburton stated he had killed Klein and left him in the truck by Family Dollar, which is right by the motel.
Andrew Glenn testified that he is friends with Halliburton and Klein. Glenn testified that on the night of the murder, he was riding around in Klein’s truck with Halliburton and Klein. Glenn testified that Halliburton and Klein were going to get some synthetic marijuana (K2), and Glenn asked to be dropped off at home. Glenn further testified that Halliburton returned to Glenn’s home at 3:00 a.m. on the morning after the murder looking for a place to stay. Glenn testified that Halliburton "knock[ed] on my door frantic." Glenn testified that he could tell something was wrong with Halliburton and that Halliburton was distraught and nervous.
The morning following the murder, Mitchell accompanied Detective Easley and Detective Jason Haak to Glenn’s apartment complex. Detective Easley testified that when he arrived at the apartment complex, someone in the parking lot approached him as he was getting out of the vehicle and told him something was wrong with a man behind the dumpster. Detective Easley testified that he and Detective Haak went to investigate and discovered Halliburton squatted down—asleep—behind the dumpster. Detective Easley testified that Halliburton was wearing the same clothes that he was seen wearing in the Family Dollar surveillance video. Detective Easley further testified that while interviewing Halliburton, he saw blood on Halliburton’s coat and that Halliburton had an empty knife sheath on his belt.
Arkansas State Crime Lab forensic serologist Kent Keedy testified that he received Halliburton’s coat and tested the stains on the coat for the presence of blood, which tested positive. Arkansas State Crime Lab DNA technical leader Joseph Hof testified that the blood on the coat matched Klein’s DNA profile. Hof further testified that the probability of someone unrelated to Klein having the same DNA profile as the blood on the coat was approximately 53.6 nonillion2 in the Caucasian population. Detective Eric Winters with the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department testified that Halliburton’s fingerprints were found on the passenger front door of the truck.
During the investigation, law enforcement interviewed Halliburton. Detective Easley testified that he interviewed Halliburton three times and Halliburton gave several different versions of what he thought happened that evening and implicated other people.
Dr. Stephen A. Erickson, pathologist and Deputy Chief Medical Examiner at the Arkansas State Crime Lab, testified that Klein sustained multiple stab wounds
to his face, eye, throat and chest. Dr. Erickson testified that some of the wounds were inflicted while movement was taking place and other wounds were inflicted after Klein stopped moving. Dr. Erickson testified that Klein died of multiple stab wounds, "but if there’s any one that’s associated with definitive mechanism of death, it’s this stab wound to the chest that goes into the aorta."
Halliburton was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Klein. The jury convicted Halliburton as set forth above and this appeal followed.
On appeal, Halliburton argues that the circuit court erred in denying Halliburton’s motion to dismiss the first-degree-murder charge and that the circuit court erred in denying Halliburton’s motions for directed verdict. Although Halliburton challenges the sufficiency of the evidence in his third and fifth points on appeal,
Dortch v. State , 2018 Ark. 135, at 5, 544 S.W.3d 518, 522. We will address both sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenges in one point.
On appeal, a motion for directed verdict is treated as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Reynolds v. State , 2016 Ark. 214, 492 S.W.3d 491. In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Edmond v. State , 351 Ark. 495, 95 S.W.3d 789 (2003). We will 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. Dortch , 2018 Ark. 135, at 5, 544 S.W.3d at 522. This court does not weigh the evidence presented at trial or assess the credibility of the witnesses, because those are matters for the fact-finder. Id. The trier of fact is free to believe all or part of any witness’s testimony and may resolve questions of conflicting testimony and inconsistent evidence. Id. Further, circumstantial evidence may provide a basis to support a conviction, but it must be consistent with the defendant’s guilt and inconsistent with any other reasonable conclusion. Edmond , 351 Ark. 495, 95 S.W.3d 789. Whether the...
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