Ruffin v. State
| Decision Date | 18 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. CR-19-628,CR-19-628 |
| Citation | 597 S.W.3d 151,2020 Ark. App. 179 |
| Parties | Cortland D. RUFFIN, Appellant v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee |
| Court | Arkansas Court of Appeals |
Phillip A. McGough, P.A., North Little Rock, by: Phillip A. McGough, for appellant.
Leslie Rutledge, Att’y Gen., by: Michael Zangari, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.
Appellate counsel for Cortland D. Ruffin brings this no-merit appeal from the Lafayette County Circuit Court’s order revoking Ruffin’s suspended sentences and probation and sentencing him to concurrent sentences of five years’ imprisonment. Pursuant to Anders v. California , 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), and Rule 4-3(k) (2019) of the Rules of the Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, Ruffin’s counsel has filed a motion to withdraw on the ground that the appeal is wholly without merit. The clerk of our court furnished Ruffin with a copy of his counsel’s brief and notified him of his right to file pro se points for reversal within thirty days, which he has filed, and the State has filed a response. We affirm Ruffin’s convictions and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.
On March 13, 2015, Ruffin appeared before the Lafayette County Circuit Court in case numbers 37CR-2014-39-1 and 37CR-2015-05-1 (2014-39 and 2015-05 respectively) and pleaded guilty to terroristic threatening in the first degree and possession or use of weapons by incarcerated persons, both Class D felonies, in each case, respectively. The circuit court imposed concurrent five-year suspended sentences for each offense and ordered that as a condition of those suspended sentences, Ruffin not violate the law and that he pay $150 in court costs, a $100 public-defender fee, and a $20 booking fee.
On January 12, 2018, Ruffin appeared before the circuit court in case number 37CR-2017-82-2 (2017-82) and pleaded guilty to battery in the second degree, a Class D felony. The circuit court sentenced Ruffin to six years’ probation and assessed $150 in court costs and a $20 administrative fee. The terms and conditions of Ruffin’s probation further required that he report as directed to his supervising probation officer, pay monthly $35 probation-supervision fees, with his costs and administrative fee to be paid in full by February 12 and March 12, 2018, respectively.
On May 4, 2018, the circuit court extended Ruffin’s suspended sentences in 2014-39 and 2015-05, as previously ordered, and assessed additional court costs and fees. That same date, Ruffin’s sentence of probation in 2017-82 was also extended subject to its previous terms and conditions, and payment of his prior court-ordered costs and fees, and the circuit court further ordered Ruffin to pay an additional $150 in court costs and a $20 administrative fee.
On September 7, 2018, the State filed petitions to revoke Ruffin’s sentences in 2014-39 and 2015-05 alleging that, as of May 4, 2018, Ruffin had "failed to pay court ordered financial obligations" in violation of the terms of his suspended sentences. The State’s petition to revoke Ruffin’s probation filed in 2017-82 alleged that Ruffin had violated the terms of his probation when he failed to report to his probation officer on August 7, 13, and 16, 2018, that he had failed to make any payments toward his court-ordered costs or fees, and that he had not paid his monthly probation-supervision fees, which were $140 in arrears.
A hearing on the petitions was held on April 15, 2019. The State presented testimony from Ruffin’s probation officer, Clay Raborn, who testified that Ruffin had been placed under his supervision for his sentence of probation in 2017-82. Officer Raborn testified that Ruffin’s suspended sentences in 2014-39 and 2015-05 had been conditioned on his meeting various financial obligations. A copy of the terms and conditions of Ruffin’s suspended sentences was admitted without objection. Officer Raborn testified that the circuit court had ordered Ruffin to pay $150 in court costs, a booking fee of $20, and a $100 public-defender fee in each case. He testified that Ruffin was further ordered to pay additional court costs of $150 and administrative fees of $20 when his suspended sentences in 2014-39 and 2015-05 and sentence of probation in 2017-82 were extended on May 4, 2018.
At the hearing, Officer Raborn testified that his records indicated Ruffin had not made any payments toward the court costs or fees. The terms and conditions of Ruffin’s probation in 2017-82 were admitted into evidence. When asked whether Ruffin had complied with his probation-reporting requirements, Officer Raborn testified that Ruffin failed to report on July 17, 2018, after Ruffin was specifically "told to report" after his release from the Lafayette County jail on July 3, 2018.
Officer Raborn further testified that on July 18, he went to the Bradley, Arkansas, address that Ruffin had provided as his residence, but Ruffin was not there. Officer Raborn testified he left written instructions on the door of the residence for Ruffin to report to the probation office on July 19. Ruffin failed to report to the probation office that day. Officer Raborn testified that Ruffin subsequently failed to report––after having been provided written instructions at his residence––on August 7, 13, and 16, 2018.
Ruffin testified on his own behalf at the hearing. He stated that he understood he was required to report to Officer Raborn and that he had signed the terms of his probation. Ruffin testified that he "reported once" to Officer Raborn in July 2017 when he "signed the [terms of probation]" and was told he owed $105 in supervision fees. Officer Raborn told him "the next date to [report,]" but Ruffin recalled, "I don't think I made it."
Ruffin initially denied that he was required to pay supervision fees and testified that since July 2017, he had been employed as a landscaper, had done "utility work[,]" "roofing[,]" and "shingling," and had been residing with his uncle and cousin at their residences in Bradley. Ruffin later testified he arranged to perform community service "to pay off [his] $105 probation fees[,]" but that "[he] didn't do it[.]" When asked if he received Officer Raborn’s written instructions to report, Ruffin...
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...proceedings will not be reversed on appeal unless it is clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Ruffin v. State , 2020 Ark. App. 179, at 3, 597 S.W.3d 151 (internal citations omitted). A challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence at a hearing seeking to revoke a defendant's SIS......
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