Newman v. State
| Decision Date | 22 May 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. CR02-811.,CR02-811. |
| Citation | 106 S.W.3d 438 |
| Parties | RICKEY D. NEWMAN, APPELLANT v. STATE OF ARKANSAS, APPELLEE. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
APPEAL FROM THE CRAWFORD COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, NO. CR2001-109, HON. FLOYD G. ROGERS, JUDGE, AFFIRMED.
This case represents the first automatic appeal and mandatory review of a death sentence pursuant to Ark. R. App. P. -Crim. 10. In this opinion, this court has reviewed the issues required by Rule 10 as well as issues raised by appointed counsel for appellant Rickey Newman and issues raised by this court on its own behalf. We find no reversible error, and we affirm the conviction for capital murder and the sentence of death.
On February 15, 2001, Benny Billy, a transient, notified the Van Buren Police Department that he had found a body in the Lee Creek Park area. Upon arrival, Van Buren police officers found the decomposed body of Marie Cholette, a forty-six-year old female transient, in a make-shift tent composedof tarps and scrap lumber. Cholette had been mutilated. Her neck had been slit, and her torso had been sliced from the neck down to her pelvic area.
In the course of the investigation, the police officers questioned the appellant, Ricky Newman, also a transient and a "rail rider." This occurred on February 15, 2001. Newman was unable to identify a photo of Cholette positively, but he told police officers that he had met a female by the name of "Hardhead" or "Hardhat" at the rescue mission in Van Buren. He stated that he and the woman had walked to a camp where the railroad tracks made a "T." There, they met three people named Psycho, Snake, and Copper. He stated that everyone was "huffing" except for himself and that Psycho began talking about human sacrifice which scared him.1 Newman said he left and walked back to a friend's house. At trial, Officer Brent Grill, who conducted the interview, testified that Newman was "loud spoken" and that he kept his arms crossed while leaning back in his chair. During the evening of February 15, 2001, the police officers collected hair and blood samples from Newman, as they had done from the other suspects.
After investigating Newman's initial story, the police officers were unable to locate individuals named Psycho or Snake. They did learn that an individual named Copper had left town around February 5, 2001. As for Newman, the police officers discovered that he had actually gone to the home of his uncle, Dub Ross. Video surveillance from Shamrock Liquors in Fort Smith revealed that Newman and Cholette had been in the store on February 7, 2001, and had purchased two bottles of wine and cigarettes.
On March 2, 2001, the police officers learned that Newman intended to leave town. Because of this, they asked him to come to the Van Buren Police station for another interview. When he arrived, Newman was advised of his Miranda rights, and he signed a Miranda waiver form. Officer Brent Grill testified at trial that Newman's demeanor during the ensuing interview was different from that of his previous interview. This time, he seemed to Officer Grill to be very stressed, to have blood-shot eyes, and to be soft spoken. When questioned, he told police officers that he did not remember going to Shamrock Liquors with Cholette and that he had traded the jacket he was wearing that day at the rescue mission. Newman told the police officers that he killed Cholette, and he askedif he could write out a statement. In that statement, Newman stated that at home he was known as Rickey Newman and Renegade "on the track." He wrote that he becomes "Seaco" when he blacks out and that he cannot control Seaco. He told police officers that when he becomes "Seaco," he will kill "anyone he see[s] as a threat" and confessed that he was "guilb [sic] of all this."
Following his statement, Officer Mik Molnar joined Officer Grill in interrogating Newman. Newman claimed that he was getting a headache and told the police officers that "he stabbed her" and that it was all in the statement. He then proceeded to write more on a second piece of paper. In that statement, Newman wrote "Please lock me up Do not push me I hate Scaio Lock me up please." He further wrote: "Help me kill him are kill Rickey Newman all I can remdermed is Scaio came out and kill that helpless Lady[.]" Newman then told the police officers that he was really stressed, that he had a headache, and that he did not want to talk anymore. He asked the police officers to lock him in a cell by himself so he would not hurt anyone else. That same day, Newman was arrested, and a search warrant was issued and executed on his mother's home to obtain his clothing.
On March 27, 2001, Newman was arraigned. At the arraignment, he attempted to waive all of his rights and to plead guilty to the charges against him. The circuit court refused the guilty plea and appointed the office of the public defender to represent him. During April 2001, Newman sent several letters to the police investigators in which he admitted killing Cholette. In May, June, and July 2001, Newman mailed several letters to the circuit court in which he at times requested the death penalty and denied any need for a mental examination and at other times requested an immediate jury trial. He also requested any material from the State that would be used as evidence against him at trial.
On May 9, 2001, the circuit court held an inquiry hearing.2 At that hearing, Newman informed the circuit court that he had fired the public defender, Robert Marquette. The court informed Newman that if he were to represent himself as he had expressed a desire to do, he would be bound by the rules of evidence and that the likelihood of being convicted was much greater, as was the likelihood of receiving a moresevere punishment. Over Newman's objection, the c ourt decided to leave Mr. Marquette as standby counsel and permitted Newman to represent himself, with Mr. Marquette available should Newman need to ask him anything about the law. The circuit court inquired about whether Newman had been evaluated by the Arkansas State Hospital, and Newman's standby counsel informed the court that Newman was on the waiting list.
On March 27, 2002, a hearing on Newman's motion for production of various material and information was conducted by the circuit court. At that time, the court supervised the State's delivery of materials and information from the State Crime Lab to Newman. The court then admonished Newman that he should not represent himselfThe court further ordered the prosecutor to make known to Newman which, if any, admissions or statements Newman had made, including letters to the prosecutor, that the State intended to use against him. Newman inquired as to whether the State would be seeking the death penalty against him, and the prosecutor responded that death was one of the potential penalties in the case.
On April 8, 2002, the circuit court held a second inquiry hearing. At that time, Newman informed the court that Mr. Marquette was going to handle his trial and that he (Newman)would address the jury at some point during the trial. On June 5, 2002, the circuit court conducted Newman's omnibus hearing. At that time, Newman presented testimony from Dr. Charles Mallory, a psychologist with the Arkansas State Hospital, who stated that he had examined Newman and did not find any signs or symptoms of multiple personality disorder. Dr. Mallory further testified that Newman exhibited no symptoms of mental disease, as defined by Arkansas law, but that a polysubstance abuse history and a history of personality disorder were found. Dr. Mallory also stated that a person who is rational and competent to stand trial could still have a deep and abiding conviction that he must pay for his crime. The doctor stated that Newman was competent to stand trial and was rational enough to make decisions regarding what he wanted to do with regard to his case.
The circuit court found that Newman was competent to stand trial. Mr. Marquette next proceeded to withdraw, at Newman's request and instruction, virtually every motion that had been filed on his behalf.3 Newman confirmed to thecircuit court that he was in agreement with Mr. Marquette's actions. The circuit court did deny two of Newman's motions: (1) motion to quash information on grounds that the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment violative of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution; and (2) motion to prohibit death qualification of the jury. The court set Newman's case for trial.
Newman's jury trial took one day, and occurred on June 10, 2002. At the trial, he waived his right to appear in street clothes and instead asserted that he would rather be tried in his orange jail togs and remain shackled. When informed by the circuit court of his right to be unshackledand to wear street clothes, Newman replied: "Sir, it doesn't matter what I'm wearing, I'm guilty, I killed the lady period." The prosecutor then stated that he wanted to conduct voir dire individually, which the court permitted. Newman further waived imposition of Arkansas Rule of Evidence 615 regarding the exclusion of witnesses from the courtroom.
Following voir dire, the prosecutor began his case by calling several police officers who testified to the events of their investigation into Cholette's death. The prosecutor also introduced a videotape of the crime scene as well as several still photographs of the crime scene taken by police officers. Dr. Frank Peretti, an associate medical examiner, next testified that Cholette's body was the worst mutilation of a body he had seen during his last ten years as a medical examiner in Arkansas. He testified that Cholette suffered an eight-and-a-quarter inch by one-and-one-half inch slicing wound around her neck, which occurred while she was still alive. Additionally, both of her nipples had been cut off, with the right nipple being cut off post-mortem. She also suffered...
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