Jefferson v. State

• Decision Date: 14 February 2008
• Docket Number: No. CR 07-681.,CR 07-681.
• Parties: Wesley JEFFERSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

276 S.W.3d 214

372 Ark. 307

Wesley JEFFERSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

No. CR 07-681.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

February 14, 2008.

Jeff Rosenzweig, Little Rock, AR, for appellant.

Dustin McDaniel, Att'y Gen., by: Laura Shue, Ass't Att'y Gen., Little Rock, AR, for appellee.

JIM HANNAH, Chief Justice.

Appellant Wesley Jefferson was convicted by a St. Francis County jury of capital murder, aggravated robbery, theft of property, and fleeing in connection with the robbery of a convenience store and the death of Arkansas State Trooper Mark Carthron. Jefferson was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, 240 months, 120 months, and 72 months, respectively.¹ On appeal, Jefferson argues that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict on the charge of capital murder and the relevant lesser-included offenses. He also argues that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for mistrial when the prosecutor made improper remarks during closing argument. Jefferson further contends that the affirmative-defense provisions of the capital-murder statute are unconstitutional. Finally, he argues that his conviction for fleeing should be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. As this is a criminal appeal involving a sentence of life imprisonment, our jurisdiction is pursuant to Ark. Sup.Ct. R. 1-2(a)(2). We find no error and, accordingly, we affirm.

I. Directed-Verdict Motion

Jefferson first argues that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict on the charge of capital murder and the relevant lesser-included offenses. We treat a motion for a directed verdict as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Coggin v. State, 356 Ark. 424, 156 S.W.3d 712 (2004). This court has repeatedly stated that in reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we review the evidence in a light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Stone v. State, 348 Ark. 661, 74 S.W.3d 591 (2002). We 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. Haynes v. State, 346 Ark. 388, 58 S.W.3d 336 (2001).

Circumstantial evidence may constitute substantial evidence to support a conviction. Ross v. State, 346 Ark. 225, 57 S.W.3d 152 (2001). The longstanding rule in the use of circumstantial evidence is that, to be substantial, the evidence must exclude every other reasonable hypothesis than that of the guilt of the accused. Id. The question of whether the circumstantial evidence excludes every other reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence is for the jury to decide. Id. Upon review, this court must determine whether the jury resorted to speculation and conjecture in reaching its verdict. Id.

A person commits capital murder if acting alone or with one (1) or more other persons, he or she commits or attempts to commit aggravated robbery "and in the course of and in furtherance of" aggravated robbery "or in immediate flight therefrom, he or she or an accomplice causes the death of any person under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life." Ark.Code Ann. § 5-10-101(a)(1) (Supp.2005).

The record reveals the following facts. On September 11, 2005, Jefferson and an accomplice robbed a Forrest City convenience store. Malissa Ajimu, a clerk working at the store, testified that Jefferson pulled a gun on her and that his accomplice took money out of the store's register and put it in a Wal-Mart bag; she stated that the two also took her cell phone. Jefferson and his accomplice then fled eastward on Interstate 40 in a stolen car, and a high speed chase with police ensued. Arkansas State Trooper Lowry Astin pursued Jefferson's vehicle. He testified that he was aware that Jefferson's car was stolen, that Jefferson and his passenger were suspects in a recent aggravated robbery, and that Trooper Mark Carthron was available a couple of miles up Interstate 40 with stop sticks, which are used to attempt to stop a fleeing car by deflating its tires. When the troopers engaged their lights and sirens, Jefferson did not pull the car over, but immediately increased his speed to at least 95 miles per hour and continued for about two miles. Trooper Mike Kennedy testified that Jefferson made no effort to stop. Rather, Jefferson drove his car in the right lane then abruptly shot back to the left when Trooper Carthron stepped out with the stop sticks in his hands and threw them into the roadway. Jefferson's car ran over the stop sticks² and, thereafter, Trooper Carthron proceeded on foot into the roadway. Trooper Astin, who was still pursuing Jefferson's vehicle, at a reduced rate of speed, was unable to avoid hitting Trooper Carthron, who later died.

A. Causation

In his first subpoint under his directed-verdict argument, Jefferson contends that there is insufficient evidence to support a conviction for capital murder because he did not "cause" the death of Trooper Carthron. "Causation may be found where the result would not have occurred but for the conduct of the defendant operating either alone or concurrently with another cause unless the concurrent cause was clearly sufficient to produce the result and the conduct of the defendant clearly insufficient." Ark.Code Ann. § 5-2-205 (Repl.1997). "[O]ne whose wrongdoing is a concurrent proximate cause of an injury is criminally liable therefor (other elements of liability being present) the same as if his wrongdoing were the sole proximate cause of the harm done." McClung v. State, 217 Ark. 291, 293, 230 S.W.2d 34, 35 (1950). For proximate causation, this court must find more than that a given result would not have happened but for the prior occurrence of fact "A"; rather, we must find that fact "A" was a substantial and currently operative factor in bringing about the result in question. Id. at 293, 230 S.W.2d at 35. The doctrine of contributory negligence recognized in civil actions is inapplicable in a criminal case. See, e.g., Benson v. State, 212 Ark. 905, 208 S.W.2d 767 (1948) (noting that if a defendant is found to be the cause of death, he is criminally responsible whether or not a victim's failure to use due care also contributed to the cause of death). Our law is well settled that, where there are concurrent causes of death, conduct which hastens or contributes to a person's death is a cause of death. Cox v. State, 305 Ark. 244, 248, 808 S.W.2d 306, 309 (1991) (citing Tackett v. State, 298 Ark. 20, 766 S.W.2d 410 (1989); McClung, supra; Rogers v. State, 60 Ark. 76, 29 S.W. 894 (1894); W.R. LaFave & A.W. Scott, 1 Substantive Criminal Law, § 3.12 (1986); R.M. Perkins & R.N. Boyce, Criminal Law, 783-4 (3d ed.1982)).

Jefferson states that there is no dispute that Trooper Carthron was hit by Trooper Astin's vehicle after the Jefferson vehicle had passed by. Further, Jefferson states, Trooper Carthron ran into the road to retrieve the stop sticks, in contravention of training and proper usage of the stop sticks. Jefferson maintains that the concurrent causes of Trooper Carthron's death are Astin's collision with him and Carthron's failure to observe the proper usage of the stop sticks. Jefferson contends that his conduct—merely leading the police on a chase, however ill advised that might have been and however tragic the death of Carthron—is insufficient causation standing alone.

In support of his argument, Jefferson points to the Original Commentary to Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-205 (Repl.1995), which provides:

This section comes to grips with problems associated with the causal relationship between conduct and results. These are singularly complex and, of course, extend in scope beyond the criminal law. The section supplies a "but for" test, modified to the extent that a sufficient concurrent cause does not exculpate unless the actor's conduct was clearly insufficient to produce the result occasioning the prosecution. The test is congruent with former law. See McClung v. State, 217 Ark. 291, 230 S.W.2d 34 (1950).

See AMCI 4003.

In McClung, this court affirmed a conviction for involuntary manslaughter where the appellant drove recklessly and collided with another driver who may have been driving negligently at the time of the collision. Jefferson states that McClung does not present the fact situation of this case, nor do other cases interpreting Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-205, such as Anderson v. State, 312 Ark. 606, 852 S.W.2d 309 (1993), Porter v. State, 308 Ark. 137, 823 S.W.2d 846 (1992), Cox, supra, and Tackett, supra. In other words, Jefferson states, neither McClung nor any reported Arkansas cases under the 1976 Criminal Code deal with the situation of such attenuation between the fatal injury and the physical act of the defendant.

The State argues that substantial evidence supported a reasonable inference by the jury that the troopers' conduct did not produce the result by itself and that Jefferson's conduct clearly did. The State contends that Jefferson's aggravated robbery, speeding, and fleeing on a busy interstate were substantial and currently operative factors in bringing about Trooper Astin's pursuit and Trooper Carthron's use of the stop sticks. We agree. As the State points out, because Jefferson engaged in life-threatening activity, his conduct brought about Trooper Carthron's use of a public-safety technique employed to stop Jefferson as quickly as possible. The technique was not implemented until Jefferson initiated the chase and obviously would not have been used if Jefferson had pulled over. Jefferson's actions were substantial factors in bringing about Trooper Carthron's death. While the cases cited by Jefferson may contain different facts from the instant case, it is clear that in ...