Spencer v. State, CR
| Decision Date | 15 October 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. CR,CR |
| Citation | 499 S.W.2d 856,255 Ark. 258 |
| Parties | Gregory Allen SPENCER, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 73--84. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Harold L. Hall, Public Defender, and Garner L. Taylor, Jr., Deputy Public Defender, Little Rock, for appellant.
Jim Guy Tucker, Atty. Gen., by O. H. Hargraves, Deputy Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
Gregory Allen Spencer was convicted in the Pulaski County Circuit Court of the crime of first degree rape, the jury fixing his punishment at life imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction, and from the judgment entered in accordance with that verdict, appellant brings this appeal. For reversal, two points are asserted; first, that the trial court erred in refusing to give appellant's Requested Instruction No. 2, and second, that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. For convenience, the second point will be first discussed.
Carolyn Jean May, 17 years of age, testified that she left her home at 1515 Cumberland in Little Rock about 5:00 A.M. to walk to her mother's home in Highland Court several miles away. At 14th and High Streets, appellant and a friend of his were engaged in conversation and she talked with them. Appellant's friend walked across to a liquor store, purportedly to buy cigarettes, and the witness stated that subsequently Spencer placed a knife to her throat and told her that if she did as he said, he wouldn't hurt her in any way. Mrs. May stated she was scared, shaking, and begging him to take the knife away from her throat, and that he told her to put her arms around him and do as he said. They then went to his apartment where she stated that she was raped. When interrogated as to whether she tried to escape, she said that she looked out of the windows, saw that the roof was too high, and slanted, and that while Spencer did not have the knife on her at the time, she was fearful that he would draw it again. Spencer was living with another girl, Angie Lee Roberts; after the alleged rape, Mrs. May told appellant that she had to go to the bathroom, and in the bathroom she asked Angie to help her get away, but the latter refused, stating that she was afraid and 'they would all come up missing'. At that time Spencer came to the door and inquired what was taking so long. Spencer then went to the store to get cigarettes and returned to the Spencer apartment where appellant, Mrs. May, Angie Lee Roberts, and Larry Metz (the person who had been with Spencer on the street) played cards. The witness stated that they all then went to a store to buy cold drinks, and that she tried to 'motion' someone in the store in order to convey her predicament, but could not get anybody's attention. After returning from the store, they went across the street to the apartment of Metz. There, Mrs. May, according to her testimony, still looking for an opportunity to escape, stated that her feet were cold and she wanted her shoes (which were still at the Spencer apartment). Appellant, at first, was unwilling to let her go, and kept whispering to Angie. Finally, he agreed and the two girls then started to the Spencer apartment but before reaching it, the witness talked Angie into letting her go.
There was corroboration of some of this evidence by Angie Lee Roberts. She said there was a window in the bathroom, but it was too small to go through, and that when she had first arrived at the apartment, Larry had told her not to go upstairs. She said that Spencer told her not to let Mrs. May go; that the prosecutrix had begged, but that she (Angie) was afraid of Spencer. She said she had told Mrs. May not to say anything when they went into the store and that she heard Spencer tell Larry Metz, 'Watch her.' She testified that Spencer told her 'not to let her (Mrs. May) go at all * * * to hold her to keep her from going.' She was then asked what happened after she let the prosecutirx leave, and she stated that Spencer was very angry and that the two of them circled several blocks looking for her; that on their return to the apartment, Spencer 'tore into me', striking her for permitting Mrs. May to leave.
Spencer admitted intercourse, but said it was voluntary on the part of Mrs. May. Appellant, of course, argues that there was no rape, Mrs. May consenting, and it is vigorously contended that she had opportunities to mention her predicament to others (at the store and on the street) and that this establishes that no rape was committed. We do not agree. The matters mentioned, of course, were facts to be argued to the jury, including the failure to make outcry, but the jury was the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and it was within its province to believe or disbelieve the witnesses, and to determine whether Mrs. May was acting under duress and fear during the period of time that she was with the appellant and the others. In other words, there is no evidence in the case...
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...16 Ark.App. 175, 698 S.W.2d 807 (1985). The established rule is that corroboration is not required in a rape case. Spencer v. State, 255 Ark. 258, 499 S.W.2d 856 (1973). We hold that the testimony of the prosecuting witness most favorable to the state, if believed by the jury, was sufficien......
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