Standridge v. State
| Decision Date | 21 September 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. CR,CR |
| Citation | 310 Ark. 408,837 S.W.2d 447 |
| Parties | Robert STANDRIDGE, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 92-407. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
John W. Settle, Fort Smith, for appellant.
Teena L. White, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
Appellant was convicted of manufacturing a controlled substance. The court of appeals in a three-to-three decision affirmed the conviction. Standridge v. State, 37 Ark.App. 153, 826 S.W.2d 303 (March 18, 1992). We granted appellant's petition for a writ of certiorari because of the tie vote and because the case merited review. See Perkins v. Perkins, 267 Ark. 112, 589 S.W.2d 29 (1979). We reverse the decision of the court of appeals and direct it to reverse the judgment of conviction of the circuit court, and, because of the insufficiency of the evidence, dismiss the charge.
During a surveillance flight, the Logan County Sheriff spotted some marijuana plants growing in a small cleared area that was surrounded by dense underbrush in the National Forest near Paris. The Sheriff also saw a Jeep being driven in the general area but, from the air, could not identify any of its occupants. There was no proof to connect the Jeep with appellant. Soon thereafter the Sheriff and some of his deputies drove their police vehicle as close to the marijuana as possible. They then walked and crawled through the twelve to thirteen feet tall underbrush to the clearing, where they found ninety-three marijuana plants and, six to fifteen feet from the edge of the plants, a small igloo type tent. Inside and around the tent they found a sleeping bag, a package of cups, two plastic cups, two metal cups, and a paperback book. An ice chest was found filled with unmelted ice, beer, soft drinks, and luncheon meat. Because it was August, the unmelted ice constituted substantial evidence that someone had just left the tent.
The book, the plastic cups, and the metal cups were submitted to the State Crime Laboratory for examination by a fingerprint expert. Several latent prints were found on the various items, and the laboratory obtained the known patent prints of four people who were suspected of growing the marijuana. Appellant's known prints were among the four suspects' patent prints. The examiner found appellant's latent thumbprint on one of the plastic cups. The remaining latent prints lifted from the other items found at the scene were never identified. The State's fingerprint expert stated that he had no way of knowing when or where appellant might have touched the plastic cup. He testified that the print could have been made as much as a year earlier and that the cup could have been "anywhere in the world" when it was touched by appellant. No other evidence linked appellant to the scene or to the manufacture of marijuana.
When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged, we affirm if there is substantial evidence to support the verdict. Abdullah v. State, 301 Ark. 235, 783 S.W.2d 58 (1990). Evidence is substantial if it is of sufficient force to compel reasonable minds to reach a...
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...been broken in and propped up inside the store). However, fingerprints alone have been held to be insufficient. See Standridge v. State, 310 Ark. 408, 837 S.W.2d 447 (1992) (thumbprint found on disposable cup beside a tent that was several feet from marijuana plants is not enough where ther......
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... ... 4. See, e.g., State v. Cleator, 71 Wash.App. 217, 857 P.2d 306 (1993) (no legitimate expectation of privacy in tent wrongfully erected on public land), and Standridge v. State, 37 Ark.App. 153, 826 S.W.2d 303, rev'd on other grounds, 310 Ark. 408, 837 S.W.2d 447 (1992) (trespasser on public land has no legitimate expectation of privacy in tent) ... 5. Rather, Eggers's argument merely assumes that the tent would be protected under the Fourth Amendment ... ...
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... Page 544 ... 594 N.Y.S.2d 544 ... 156 Misc.2d 735 ... The PEOPLE of the State of New York ... William Anthony HERNER, Defendant ... Supreme Court, Monroe County ... Jan. 26, 1993 ... Page 546 ... A camp site on another person's property is not protected. State v. Pentecost, 64 Wash.App. 656, 825 P.2d 365 (1992); see also Standridge v. State, 37 Ark.App. 153, 826 S.W.2d 303 (1992), rev'd. on other grounds 310 Ark. 408, 837 S.W.2d 447 (1992). The Supreme Court has held in Rakas ... ...
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...force or compel reasonable minds to reach a conclusion one way or the other, Haynes relies primarily on the case of Standridge v. State, 310 Ark. 408, 837 S.W.2d 447 (1992). In Standridge, this court reversed appellant Standridge's conviction for manufacturing marijuana, where the only evid......