Ridling v. State

• Decision Date: 27 January 2005
• Citation: 360 Ark. 424,203 S.W.3d 63
• Parties: Robbin E. RIDLING, Appellant v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

203 S.W.3d 63

360 Ark. 424

Robbin E. RIDLING, Appellant v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee

CR 04-48

Supreme Court of Arkansas

Opinion Delivered January 27, 2005

BETTY C. DICKEY, Associate Justice.

Appellant Robbin R. Ridling was convicted of capital felony murder by a Miller County jury and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Ridling brings seven (7) points on appeal, none of which has merit. We affirm.

Background

Ridling and his wife, Lisa Graf, lived in Texarkana, Arkansas, in a duplex adjoining that of Betty Tullis, the girlfriend of Roy Baskett, the victim. Baskett became friends with Ridling and Lisa, and continued that friendship after Betty and Baskett had stopped dating, and she had moved from the duplex into a home in May 2002.

Tensions first began between Baskett and the Ridlings in July of 2002, when Baskett's wallet, containing his dog tags, was missing. Baskett suspected that either Lisa or her good friend, Lisa Hickey, had stolen the wallet. On July 27, 2002, while Ridling was working in Little Rock, Baskett stopped by their duplex to visit with Lisa. While there, Baskett discovered that the Ridlings had captured a raccoon using a trap provided by the city. Baskett became upset and left, but returned shortly thereafter, smashed the cage, and freed the raccoon. Lisa called Ridling, who told her not to call the police, but said he would talk to Baskett the next day. However, Lisa and Ridling called law enforcement instead, then called Baskett to tell him how upset the incident had made her and that she was not going to pay for the cage.

About the third week of July 2002, Don Mitchell overheard an answering machine message recorded on Baskett's telephone from a "Robbin" who angrily told Baskett he had gone too far by destroying the animal trap and that he intended to either "whip" or "kick Baskett's ass" in retaliation.

In August of 2002, Betty and Baskett started seeing each other again, and on Saturday, August 3, 2002, he stopped by Betty's house about 8:30 p.m., but Betty was going to dinner with a friend. Before she left, Baskett asked her for his captain's bars, telling her that he "was going on a mission." Baskett did not give Betty any other details. Baskett drove to the duplex and told Ridling that "he was nothing but a piece of shit, he never served his country, had never been in the armed forces," and that Lisa was a slut. Baskett told Ridling and Lisa that he heard that Lisa had cheated on her first husband and that she was not the person he thought she was. Baskett then accused Lisa of being in cahoots with Lisa Hickey to steal his wallet.

Baskett challenged Ridling to fight, to which Ridling responded, "I don't want to fight an old man, and besides that, you're packing heat." Baskett demanded that Lisa return a gun that he had given her, which she did. While Lisa and Ridling were getting the firearm, Ridling told Lisa that Baskett had a gun with him and that they better empty the bullets out of this gun. After Baskett left, Lisa told Ridling that she did not want Baskett over at their house anymore and that she wanted Ridling to take care of the situation. Lisa asked Ridling to let her call the police but he refused.

On his way home, Baskett stopped by Willie Chiles's home and told him about the confrontation. Chiles, Baskett's neighbor, testified that Baskett was upset, and after showing Chiles two guns, said that he would be needing one of his guns that evening. Betty returned to her home about 9:45 p.m., and Baskett returned there around 10:00 p.m., with the firearm, where they spent the night together.

The next morning, Sunday, August 4, 2002, Baskett and Betty left her home and went to Baskett's. Betty left there between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. to do her weekly shopping.

Lisa testified that Ridling awoke about noon on Sunday, August 4, 2002. She told Ridling that she was still upset and that he needed to "handle this situation. Take care of it, Robbin. I don't want him back over here acting that way. I don't want to have to deal with it. I don't want him bringing guns back to my house." Ridling then picked up a baseball bat and keys to his 1992 blue Dodge Dakota extended cab truck, and said that he had to go take care of some things. He told Lisa he was going jogging and was taking the bat back to Wal-Mart. He left wearing black shorts, a red muscle shirt, and tennis shoes. Sometime thereafter, Lisa went by Wal-Mart and the place where he normally jogged, but did not see him or his truck. Lisa tried calling Ridling, but he did not answer.

At approximately 12:30 p.m. that day, Florence Seale, Baskett's across-the-street neighbor, was looking out her window when she saw Ridling's truck pull up to the Baskett home. Baskett got into Ridling's truck and the two drove away. Seale saw nothing out of the ordinary in either man's behavior.

Ridling returned home around 3:00 p.m. carrying his tennis shoes and socks, which were wet and grassy. He started the washer, took his shoestrings out of his shoes, and threw his shoes in the washing machine. Ridling then began scrubbing the shoestrings in the sink; actions Lisa testified that were highly unusual. He then took off the red muscle shirt and took a shower. Lisa never saw that shirt nor the socks again after that afternoon. Ridling told Lisa that he had gone jogging and then had to change a flat tire. Ridling eventually dressed and left for work at UPS some time around 6:00 p.m. Later, Lisa drove by UPS and noticed that Ridling had his truck pulled up to the building with both doors open and was holding a water hose. She thought it odd that he was spraying water on the inside of his truck. Lisa did not stop at that time, but she did return before Ridling left in his UPS truck. At 7:04 p.m., Lisa called Ridling to make sure that he was on the road. She went back out to UPS, and using her spare key, opened the truck door. She noticed that the interior, particularly the passenger side, was wet, and she saw the baseball bat in the back. Later that night Lisa called Ridling seven times on his cell phone, asking him several times about his activities that day, but he would never give her a direct answer.

On August 5th, Lisa began calling Ridling at 5:43 a.m., with seven more calls between the two by 10:00 a.m. Phone records place Ridling's cell phone within two to fourteen miles of the Hope Upland Wildlife Management Area. When Lisa returned home, around noon, Ridling was back at home. Around 5:00 p.m., while appellant was asleep, Lisa, again, looked in Ridling's truck to see if his tire was really flat. She did see a tire and two white trash bags. She testified that the bags did not feel as though they contained ordinary trash, but rather something that was both hard and soft. She also testified her husband never hauled trash in his truck.

On August 6, 2002, when no one had heard from Baskett, a missing person's report was made. Texarkana Police Detective Bobby Jordan began an investigation, interviewing Betty, Willie Chiles, and Florence Seale. Detective Jordan and Detective Ed Chattaway interviewed Lisa, who said that she had not seen Baskett for at least two weeks. After the officers left, Lisa spoke with Ridling who denied having done anything to Baskett, but cautioned Lisa to stick to the story she had told the police.

Detectives Jordan and Chattaway interviewed Ridling and Lisa, who both said that they had not seen Baskett in a couple of weeks. Appellant also stated that he was home all day on Sunday, August 4, 2002, until he left for work around 6:00 p.m., and that his vehicle had not been over at Baskett's house. Ridling told the officers about the raccoon incident and about Baskett accusing Lisa Graf or Lisa Hickey of stealing his wallet. Jordan noticed that Ridling had a red mark or cut about halfway up his shin. The Detectives also noticed that appellant was guarded during the interview and that he used past tense when referring to Baskett.

Jordan attempted to schedule a second interview with Lisa for August 8, but Ridling called him and cancelled. When the officers finally did interview Lisa on August 14, 2002, Ridling accompanied her and refused to let her speak freely. When Lisa did speak, he would cut her off and interject his own comments. Ridling denied having any contact with Baskett during the week before his disappearance, claimed he stayed home all day on Sunday, August 4, 2002, until he left for work at 6:15 p.m., and when told about witness reports that he and Baskett had a confrontation on August 3, 2002, he denied the encounter.

Warrants to search Ridling's residence and for seizure of his truck were executed on August 21, 2002. While searching the shed, Detective Marc Sullivan noticed a double-bit axe that had a spattering of green paint on it. While searching the truck, Sullivan found the interior carpet wet, and when it was removed, a reddish-tinted substance was on the bottom of the truck. The preliminary test of the reddish water tested positive for blood. In addition, blood was also found on the passenger seatbelt, on the passenger's seat headrest, and on a plastic pane on the passenger side. The blood samples were sent to the State Crime Lab and some were found to be a match with that of Baskett.

On August 30, 2002, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Officer Terry "Mickey" Rogers was working in the Hope Upland Wildlife Area, Hempstead County, when Ridling drove up in his truck dressed in his UPS uniform. Despite that fact that it was quite still dark, between 5:45 and 6:15 a.m., Ridling was driving with only his parking lights on.

On September 27, 2002, another search of the Hope Upland Wildlife Area was conducted, and a white trash bag smelling of a decaying organism was located that afternoon. A stacked pile of branches was found that was inconsistent with the other vegetation in the area, and that had a strong odor of decay surrounding it. Because what appeared to be a bone...