Hayes v. State, CR
| Decision Date | 22 March 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. CR,CR |
| Citation | 312 Ark. 349,849 S.W.2d 501 |
| Parties | Jerry HAYES, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 92-1359. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
William R. Simpson, Jr., Public Defender, Jerry J. Sallings, Tammy Harris, Deputy Public Defenders, Little Rock, for appellant.
Brad Newman, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
This criminal appeal arises from the conviction, upon a jury verdict, and sentence to life imprisonment of the appellant, Jerry Hayes. Hayes was charged with the murder of Patricia Taunt. He questions the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction and argues a statement he made to the police should have been suppressed. We decline to consider the sufficiency argument because of Hayes's failure to move for a directed verdict, and we find no basis for suppressing the statement.
An unidentified person reported that Ms. Taunt was missing and that the police should "look into" her disappearance. Detective Stafford visited Ms. Taunt's home where he met Hayes and the victim's daughter. The daughter said the victim was not home and she didn't know where she was but that some of her clothing and jewelry were missing. The daughter said the victim had vanished a week earlier and she assumed that she was on the road with her truck-driver husband. Hayes was taken in for questioning and released an hour later.
Barry Mattinson had worked with Hayes for three months at a Pizza Hut restaurant, and they had become friends. Mattinson was interviewed by the police and made a statement implicating Hayes in the murder. In his testimony at Hayes's trial Mattinson said he received a call from Hayes at the restaurant asking for help. Mattinson said he told Hayes he would not help him kill the victim, but then Hayes said he had just killed her and needed help to hide the body. Mattinson said Hayes had, in the presence of other witnesses, threatened to kill the victim on several occasions. Brian Lowery, a former Pizza Hut manager, also testified of hearing Hayes threaten to kill the victim.
Mattinson said he agreed to help dispose of the body because Hayes threatened to kill the victim's son and any police officer with whom he came into contact. He also said he was a homosexual and in love with Hayes and became afraid of Hayes while they were in the process of trying to hide the body.
When Mattinson arrived at the house where Hayes and Ms. Taunt lived, Hayes was wearing bloody pants and seemed agitated. Mattinson saw a body wrapped in bloody blankets. Hayes placed the body in Mattinson's car. Forensic examination of the car later revealed bloodstains in the rear passenger floorboard. They drove to Heber Springs, hid the body under some brush, and returned later to bury it.
Mattinson led the police to the grave. Hayes was arrested shortly thereafter and interrogated by two officers who testified Hayes signed a statement acknowledging he had been advised of his rights, but he refused to sign a form stating he waived his rights. The officers said, however, that Hayes agreed to talk with them despite his unwillingness to sign the waiver. According to the officers, when Hayes was informed that Mattinson had told them the story Hayes made statements they felt were incriminating.
Arkansas R.Crim.P. 36.21(b) provides:
Failure to Question the Sufficiency of the Evidence. When there has been a trial by jury, the failure of a defendant to move for a directed verdict at the conclusion of the evidence presented by the prosecution and at the close of the case because of insufficiency of the evidence will constitute a waiver of any question pertaining to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury verdict.
Hayes did not move for a directed verdict at the conclusion of the evidence presented by the prosecution. Nor did he move for a directed verdict at the close of the case. He did, however, move at the conclusion of a discussion of instructions to be presented to the jury, and just before the jury was to return to the courtroom for closing arguments, to "dismiss for lack of evidence."
Even if we were to equate the dismissal motion with one for a directed verdict, we would not consider it because of failure to make the motion at the conclusion of the prosecution's case. We have no case in which we have considered the issue whether a motion for directed verdict at the conclusion of the trial is sufficient to warrant consideration of sufficiency of the evidence when no such motion was made at the close of the prosecution's case. We observe, however, that the Rule is stated in the conjunctive, clearly requiring the motion to be made in both instances, as we said in cases such as Collins v. State, 308 Ark. 536, 826 S.W.2d 231 (1992), and Dewitt v. State, 306 Ark. 559, 815 S.W.2d 942 (1991).
The failure to make the motion at the conclusion of the prosecution's case and at the close of the case and the motion to "dismiss," made apparently as an afterthought, are indications that, apparently with good reason, Hayes was not serious about questioning the sufficiency of the evidence to go to the jury. We decline to consider the point.
At the suppression hearing Officer Durham testified Hayes was arrested at 5:30 a.m., September 11, 1991, and advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 467, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1624, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). An interview took place after Hayes had, according to Officer Stafford, acknowledged being informed of his rights, refused to sign the waiver, but agreed to talk. The interview was not recorded. Officers Durham and Oberle testified that Hayes was coherent and had no problem understanding what was taking place. They also testified that Hayes did not request an attorney until the end of the interview, and after he did so no further questions were asked.
Oberle began the interview and informed Hayes that Barry Mattinson had made a statement identifying Hayes as the murderer and had...
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Jones v. State, CR
...must move for a directed verdict both at the close of the State's case and at the close of all of the entire case. Hayes v. State, 312 Ark. 349, 849 S.W.2d 501 (1993). Moreover, this court adheres to a strict construction of Ark.R.Crim.P. 36.21(b), which deals with the failure to question t......
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Willis v. State
...the close of all the evidence preserves the issue of insufficient evidence for appeal. Ark. R.Crim. P. 33.1; see also Hayes v. State, 312 Ark. 349, 849 S.W.2d 501 (1993). We have previously stated that this renewal is more than a matter of mere form: it goes to the substance of the evidence......
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...the jury could determine that appellant had the capacity to knowingly and intelligently waive his rights. In Hayes v. State, 312 Ark. 349, 354, 849 S.W.2d 501, 504 (1993), we held that a written waiver is not required to effect a valid waiver. Moreover, in Bowen v. State, 322 Ark. 483, 504,......
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...appellant must move for a directed verdict both at the close of the State's case and at the close of the whole case. Hayes v. State, 312 Ark. 349, 849 S.W.2d 501 (1993); Collins v. State, 308 Ark. 536, 826 S.W.2d 231 (1992); DeWitt v. State, 306 Ark. 559, 815 S.W.2d 942 (1991). Thomas v. St......