O'Neal v. State
| Decision Date | 08 April 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. CR 03-980.,CR 03-980. |
| Citation | 356 Ark. 674,158 S.W.3d 175 |
| Parties | Ronald Dee O'NEAL v. STATE of Arkansas. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Nolan Henry, PLLC, by: Mark Murphy Henry, Fayetteville, for appellant.
Mike Beebe, Att'y Gen., by: Kent G. Holt, Ass't Att'y Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
Ronald Dee O'Neal appeals his conviction for capital murder and sentence of life without parole. O'Neal asserts that he should receive a new trial because the trial court erred in finding that the State presented sufficient evidence to support his conviction, erred in admitting speculative testimony regarding trauma to the victim's genitals, and erred in admitting prejudicial photographs of the victim's decomposed body. We hold there is no reversible error and affirm. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to Ark. Sup.Ct. R. 1-2(a)(2)(2003).
By O'Neal's own admission, he killed Stacy Ellis on May 13, 2001. Earlier that day, Ellis's mother's best friend Yolanda Austin called Ellis and asked if she wished to move in with her for a while. According to Austin, Ellis told her that she would like to do that, but she would first need to speak with her landlord to see if she could be freed from the obligations of her lease. Again, according to Austin, Ellis was to call her later to arrange for Austin to give her a ride, but Ellis never called.
O'Neal was one of three on-site managers for the apartments where Ellis lived and was one of several people who accepted rent. Ellis's roommate Shameka Yancy testified that on the morning of May 13, 2001, Ellis told her that O'Neal wanted to give her $100. At trial, O'Neal attempted to assert that such a sum might have been the $100 deposit Ellis paid to move into the apartment, but O'Neal stated to investigators that he did not deal with deposits.
Yancy testified further that she left to go to her grandmother's apartment that morning, and that when she left, Ellis was wearing jeans, a black shirt and black house shoes. Yancy further testified that as far as she knew, Ellis never left the apartment in house shoes, and that even if she was just going to Wal-Mart, she would dress up. Yancy stated that she later returned to the apartment that she shared with Ellis, but the door was locked, and Ellis did not answer her knock. Yancy then saw O'Neal and asked him to open the door. O'Neal opened the door for Yancy. When she entered the apartment, she did not find Ellis, but her things were all still there. Shameka testified that she asked O'Neal where Ellis had gone, and he told her Ellis had walked to the park.
Joe Garza of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department made initial contact with O'Neal regarding Ellis. O'Neal was not a suspect at that time, and Garza was speaking with a number of people who might have last seen her. According to Garza, O'Neal stated that he last saw Ellis leaving the apartment complex laundry room with Yancy and others, and that Ellis was wearing blue jeans or blue jeans shorts. Again, according to Garza, he asked O'Neal if O'Neal told Yancy that he saw Ellis go to the park. According to Garza, O'Neal denied having said that; however, Garza stated that in a later interview on May 20, 2001, O'Neal stated that Ellis told him she was going to the park to meet someone.
On June 19, 2001, O'Neal was again interviewed and confessed to causing Ellis's death. He denied intending to kill her. Instead, O'Neal explained that he was approached by Ellis and asked to return her deposit because she needed the money. O'Neal told police that he informed Ellis he could not do that because he did not handle deposits. O'Neal then further told police that Ellis became irate and began to demand that he give her money under a threat that she would tell O'Neal's girlfriend that O'Neal had propositioned her. O'Neal told the detective that Ellis then turned to leave, and fearing she was going to call his girlfriend and tell her a lie, O'Neal stepped to Ellis and grabbed her. O'Neal then reported that Ellis laid down on the floor, that he sat on her, and that he tried to talk to her. O'Neal asserted that then Ellis began to demand more money and began to cuss.
O'Neal stated that when he heard someone enter the laundry room nearby, he put his hand over Ellis's mouth to keep the person from overhearing their argument. O'Neal then alleged that he put pressure on Ellis's artery in her throat, what he characterized as a "sleeper hold" he had been taught in the Marines. O'Neal told investigators that he only intended to make her pass out and be quiet. He reported that after she passed out, he put a piece of duct tape over her mouth and answered a couple of phone calls that came in. O'Neal then recounted that a few minutes later he came back to Ellis and discovered that she was not breathing. O'Neal told Garza that he found he had inadvertently placed the duct tape so it not only covered Ellis's mouth but also obstructed her nostrils. According to O'Neal, he tried to get her breathing again but was unable to do so. O'Neal then stated that he panicked, and dumped her body in the river using the trash can, cable, concrete, and other materials.
Dr. Charles Kokes of the Arkansas Medical Examiner's Office testified as a forensic pathologist. According to Dr. Kokes, application of pressure to the carotid arteries for a matter of ten to fifteen seconds would cause a person to pass out, but that it would take several minutes of pressure to kill her. Dr. Kokes also testified that because there was no outward sign of homicidal trauma such as a stab wound, and because the body was discovered tied to a trash can in the river indicating homicide, Dr. Kokes concluded that the cause of death was strangulation. Dr. Kokes testified that Ellis's body had been in the river so long that the typical signs of strangulation such as bruises to the neck and petechical hemorrhages were not present. Dr. Kokes also testified that if duct tape were applied to a person's mouth after application of pressure to the carotid arteries just long enough to cause unconsciousness, the person would revive enough to try to remove the tape.
Dr. Kokes also testified that Ellis's body was retrieved clothed, but that she had signs of antemortem trauma to her labia minora and a tear in the tissue just the left of her labia. However, Dr. Kokes also testified that while not inconsistent with a sexual assault, he could not say with a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the evidence of injury to Ellis's genitals was evidence of a sexual assault. Dr. Kokes did testify that the injury was consistent with blunt force trauma.
O'Neal first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. This court recently discussed sufficiency of the evidence in Edmond v. State, 351 Ark. 495, 95 S.W.3d 789 (2003), where we stated:
We are mindful of the well-established standard of review in cases challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. This court treats a motion for a directed verdict as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Fairchild v. State, 349 Ark. 147, 76 S.W.3d 884 (2002); Branscum v. State, 345 Ark. 21, 43 S.W.3d 148 (2001). This court has repeatedly held that in reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Id.; Wilson v. State, 332 Ark. 7, 962 S.W.2d 805 (1998). We affirm a conviction if substantial evidence exists to support it. Carmichael v. State, 340 Ark. 598, 12 S.W.3d 225 (2000). 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. Id. Circumstantial evidence may provide the basis to support a conviction, but it must be consistent with the defendant's guilt and inconsistent with any other reasonable conclusion. Fairchild, 349 Ark. 147, 76 S.W.3d 884; Bangs v. State, 338 Ark. 515, 998 S.W.2d 738 (1999).
Edmond, 351 Ark. at 501-2, 95 S.W.3d 789.
We must thus determine if the conviction for capital murder is supported by substantial evidence. O'Neal admits that he caused Ellis's death, so there is no issue of whether O'Neal was the person who caused Ellis's death. However, O'Neal was convicted of causing the death of another person with the premeditated and deliberated purpose of causing the death of that person. As set out in Ark.Code Ann. § 5-10-101, a person commits capital murder where he or she:
With the premeditated and deliberated purpose of causing the death of another person, he or she causes the death of any person;
Ark.Code Ann. § 5-10-101(a)(4)(2003). We discussed premeditation and deliberation in Ford v. State, 334 Ark. 385, 976 S.W.2d 915 (1998):
Deliberation has been defined as `weighing in the mind of the consequences of a course of conduct, as distinguished from acting upon a sudden impulse without the exercise of reasoning powers.' Davis v. State, 251 Ark. 771, 773, 475 S.W.2d 155, 156 (1972). Premeditation means to think of beforehand, and it is well established that it is immaterial as to just how long premeditation and deliberation exist, so long as they exist for a period of time prior to the homicide. Id. Premeditation and deliberation may occur on the spur of the moment, Westbrook v. State, 265 Ark. 736, 747, 580 S.W.2d 702 (1979), and may be inferred from the type of weapon used, the manner of its use, and the nature, extent, and location of the wounds inflicted. Parker v. State, 290 Ark. 158, 717 S.W.2d 800 (1986); Williams v. State, 289 Ark. 69, 709 S.W.2d 80 (1986).
Ford, 334 Ark. at 389, 976 S.W.2d 915.
O'Neal denies that he intentionally killed Ellis. According to the story that O'Neal told the detective, he only intended to compel Ellis to be quiet when he applied pressure to her carotid arteries and placed duct tape over her mouth. He asserted that he did not intend that the duct tape...
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