Hilliard v. State

• Decision Date: 12 January 1976
• Docket Number: No. CR,CR
• Citation: 531 S.W.2d 463,259 Ark. 81
• Parties: George HILLIARD, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 75--150.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 463

531 S.W.2d 463

259 Ark. 81

George HILLIARD, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

No. CR 75--150.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Jan. 12, 1976.

James C. McCaa, III, Skillman, Durrett & Davis, West Memphis, for appellant.

Jim Guy Tucker, Atty. Gen., by Gary Isbell, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

ROY, Justice.

The appellant, George Hilliard, was charged with the crimes of grand larceny, forgery and uttering. These charges arose as a result of appellant purportedly taking, endorsing and negotiating the Arkansas Social Services check of Patsy Hill. On trial, appellant was found guilty of the offenses charged and from that conviction comes this appeal.

Appellant first assigns as error the allowance by the trial court of the prosecuting attorney's interrogation relating to prior felony and misdemeanor charges and convictions of the appellant. The record discloses that at trial the prosecuting attorney asked a number of questions dealing with appellant's past criminal activity. Appellant contends that evidence of other offenses cannot be introduced absent any 'permissible relevancy' to the crime at issue when their introduction could only be for the purpose of persuading a jury that the commission of a similar offense indicates likely guilt of the crime charged. When the accused elects to take the stand in his own behalf, as here, his credibility becomes an element to be tested by proper questioning on cross-examination. Edens v. State, 235 Ark. 178, 359 S.W.2d 432 (1962), cert. denied, 371 U.S. 968, 83 S.Ct. 551, 9 L.Ed.2d 538 (1965). The record reflects the prosecutor's queries were for the purpose of attacking appellant's credibility which is permissible, Williams v. State, 257 Ark. 8, 513 S.W.2d 793 (1974), and thus considered present no basis for reversal on this appeal.

Appellant's second assignment of error is his contention that his conviction was based solely on the testimony of an accomplice, Theresa Whittier, contrary to Arkansas law; and that the court erred in failing to give an instruction regarding this testimony. Theresa Whittier was in the company of appellant and George Allen on the day the check was stolen. Ms. Whittier admitted she forged the signature of Patsy Hill on the check and subsequently negotiated the instrument at a West Memphis supermarket, but she testified that appellant forced her to do this, while Hilliard testified he had no part in the crime. An eyewitness to the theft, Michael Minnis, was visiting his mother, Louella Minnis in West Memphis on the day the theft took place. Louella Minnis is a next door neighbor of Patsy Hill. Minnis testified that on the day in question he saw the appellant take the welfare check from Patsy Hill's mailbox and begin to run with it. The witness was able to identify the appellant in court as the person he saw commit the theft.

Appellant's own testimony is that he stopped the car and got out in the vicinity of the offense allegedly to seen an 'old man' who mysteriously disappeared and appellant did not see him. However, the jury may not have believed this explanation since his proximity to the residence from which the check was stolen accorded with the time at which the theft occurred. Coupled with this was the fact that Hilliard admittedly received money from Theresa Whittier shortly after the time the theft and negotiation took place. Other testimony from James Presley, the arresting officer, and Louella Minnis, the next door neighbor of Patsy Hill, serves to show the involvement of the appellant in the expropriation of the check. Thus we find there was available a plethora of evidence apart from the testimony of Ms. Whittier upon which the jury could predicate a finding of guilt. Pitts v. State, 247...