Lamb v. State
| Decision Date | 07 February 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. CR 07-753.,CR 07-753. |
| Citation | 372 Ark. 277,275 S.W.3d 144 |
| Parties | John Lehman LAMB, Sr., Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
James Law Firm, by: William O. "Bill" James, Jr., Little Rock, for appellant.
Dustin McDaniel, Att'y Gen., by: Farhan Khan, Ass't Att'y Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
John Lehman Lamb, Sr., was convicted by a jury in Greene County Circuit Court of raping H.M., a five-year-old girl, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Lamb now appeals his conviction, arguing two grounds for reversal: (1) the circuit court erred in denying his motion in limine to exclude certain testimony under Ark. R. Evid. 404(b), and (2) the circuit court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict. Because Lamb received a life sentence, we have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to Ark. Sup.Ct. R. 1-2(a)(2) (2007).
Although Lamb did not challenge the circuit court's directed-verdict ruling in his first point on appeal, double-jeopardy considerations require this court to review his directed-verdict argument first. See Ramaker v. State, 345 Ark. 225, 46 S.W.3d 519 (2001). Lamb asserts that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict because the State did not present substantial evidence to prove that he raped H.M. Specifically, he contends that rape requires penetration, and the only evidence of penetration was H.M.'s uncorroborated testimony. He argues that H.M. lacked credibility as a witness, and her descriptions of Lamb's alleged actions were incredible and unbelievable for a child of H.M.'s age. The State, however, asserts that there was substantial evidence to support Lamb's conviction because the uncorroborated testimony of a rape victim is sufficient to support a conviction.
The State also argues that Lamb did not preserve this argument for appeal because defense counsel failed to make a specific motion for directed verdict. In order to preserve an issue for an appeal of a denial of a directed-verdict motion, the issue must be stated clearly and specifically to the circuit court. Phillips v. State, 361 Ark. 1, 203 S.W.3d 630 (2005). The reasoning underlying this requirement is that when specific grounds are stated and the absent proof is pinpointed, the circuit court can either grant the motion, or, if justice requires, allow the State to reopen its case and supply the missing proof. Id. A further reason that the motion must be specific is that the appellate court may not decide an issue for the first time on appeal and cannot afford relief that is not first sought in the circuit court. Id. A party moving for directed verdict may not change his arguments on appeal and is limited to the scope and nature of his arguments made below. See Hunter v. State, 330 Ark. 198, 952 S.W.2d 145 (1997).
In the instant case, at the close of the State's case-in-chief, defense counsel moved for a directed verdict, stating:
Your Honor, at this time I would move for a directed verdict on behalf of the defense. The court, with regard to issues of rape that have been alleged, the State, with the exception of the testimony of the little child, offered no proof with regard to the rape other than just the uncorroborated statements made by my client which do not rise to the level of rape. It would certainly be more in the regard of sexual assault.
At the close of all the evidence, defense counsel renewed the earlier motion for a directed verdict.
The grounds for defense counsel's directed-verdict motion are essentially the same as those now made on appeal—that is, the State did not offer any evidence other than the victim's testimony that supported the rape charge. Thus, because the only argument on appeal is the same as that which was specifically raised in defense counsel's directed-verdict motion and because a review for prejudicial error under Ark. Sup.Ct. R. 4-3(h) (2007) is required in this case, we conclude that Lamb's motion was specific enough for purposes of appellate review.
A motion for directed verdict is treated as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Ramaker v. State, supra. The test for such motions is whether the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Id. Substantial evidence is evidence of sufficient certainty and precision to compel a conclusion one way or another and pass beyond mere suspicion or conjecture. Id. On appeal, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Id.
Pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-14-103(a)(3)(A) (Repl.2006), a person commits rape if he or she engages in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual activity with another person who is less than fourteen years of age. Id. Deviate sexual activity is defined as sexual gratification involving the "penetration, however slight, of the anus or mouth of a person by the penis of another person." Ark.Code Ann. § 5-14-101(1)(A) (Repl.2006).
The following evidence was presented at Lamb's trial. Lamb first became acquainted with the victim's mother, Dana Mathews, when she was a child. In 1999, the two became reacquainted as adults, when Dana, who was living on the streets, approached Lamb in Blytheville. Lamb took Dana into his home and eventually a romantic relationship ensued. H.M. was born in July 2001, while Dana was living with Lamb. Although Lamb was not H.M.'s father, Lamb did refer to himself as H.M.'s godfather. For the next several years, Dana and Lamb maintained a romantic relationship. During portions of their relationship, both were addicted to illegal drugs. Lamb successfully completed treatment for his addiction, but Dana shifted between treatment and prison. As a result, Dana lost custody of H.M. twice. By the time of the charged offenses, however, H.M. was living with Dana in a home that Lamb had procured for them in Paragould. Lamb routinely helped Dana care for H.M. by doing such things as bathing H.M. and getting her ready for school in the mornings.
In December 2005, Stacy Shannon, H.M.'s aunt, called the local child-abuse hotline to report that Lamb had sexually abused H.M. Rhonda Thomas, a detective with the Paragould Police Department, and Chris Shelton, an investigator with the Arkansas State Police, interviewed both H.M. and Lamb. H.M. denied any abuse during her initial interview with the investigators, but, in later interviews she admitted to being abused by Lamb. According to Thomas, H.M.'s behavior during the first interview was that of a child who had been coached to deny abuse. Meanwhile, Lamb was insisting that he was innocent and demanded a polygraph test. Nonetheless, Lamb did admit that during the 1980s he had engaged in sexual acts with his two daughters and a neighborhood girl, including "coaxing" his daughter into performing oral sex on him. The prior acts occurred in Mississippi, and Lamb was never convicted for the abuse; instead, the matter was handled in family court.
On December 13, 2005, Lamb voluntarily went to the Arkansas State Police office in Jonesboro and submitted to an interview and polygraph test administered by Investigator Pardo Roberts. After Lamb was shown the test results that indicated he had been deceptive when answering questions about H.M., Roberts convinced him to make a written statement. In the statement, Lamb admitted to occasionally bathing H.M. as a favor to her mother, and because H.M. had not been washing herself properly, he used his hand once to "inspect her vagina" and make sure she was clean.
That same day, Lamb decided to make a different statement to Rhonda Thomas in an effort to clarify what he had done to H.M. In the tape-recorded statement, Lamb said that one day he was trying to get H.M. ready for school, and she was being difficult, so he decided to discipline her. He pulled down her pants and laid her over his knee, but instead of spanking her bare buttocks, he "reached between her legs ... and gently rubbed her vagina."
Roberts, Shelton, and Thomas all testified during the State's case-in-chief. In addition, the two statements Lamb made to police and his admissions about sexually molesting his daughters were presented to the jury. H.M. also testified for the State. She stated that her "Uncle John," as she called Lamb, put his "bad spot" in her mouth and "peed" in her mouth. She described his "bad spot" as looking like an elephant trunk and his "pee" as looking like "chicken noodle soup without the noodles or the chicken." H.M. also corroborated Lamb's statement that one day he had rubbed between her legs instead of spanking her.
The defense called two witnesses, H.M.'s former therapist and case worker, to testify about their work with H.M. Donna Parker, the former therapist, testified that she had worked with H.M. for two and one-half years, and during that time she suspected that H.M. had been sexually abused. Yet, even when pressed by the therapist, H.M. never reported any abuse. The case worker, Lori Hoggard, also testified that H.M. had never disclosed any abuse.
Lamb testified in his own defense, and, although he admitted to sexually abusing his own children, he maintained his innocence in this case. He asserted that Stacy Shannon's allegations were complete falsehoods and that both of his statements to police were untrue.
This court has repeatedly held that the uncorroborated testimony of a rape victim that shows penetration is sufficient evidence for a conviction. See Gatlin v. State, 320 Ark. 120, 895 S.W.2d 526 (1995). This court has also held that a child victim's use of her own terms for body parts, rather than the correct anatomical terms, is sufficient evidence if it demonstrates a knowledge of what and where those body parts referred to are. See Tinsley v. State, 338 Ark. 342, 993 S.W.2d 898 (1999).
In the instant case, H.M. was under fourteen years of age when the alleged acts occurred....
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