Taylor v. State

• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: John F. Stroud, Jr.
• Citation: Taylor v. State, 72 S.W.3d 882, 77 Ark. App. 144 (Ark. App. 2002)
• Decision Date: 17 April 2002
• Docket Number: No. CA CR 01-748.,CA CR 01-748.
• Parties: Rene Charles TAYLOR v. STATE of Arkansas.

72 S.W.3d 882

77 Ark. App. 144

Rene Charles TAYLOR v. STATE of Arkansas.

No. CA CR 01-748.

Court of Appeals of Arkansas, Division II.

April 17, 2002.

Ed Webb & Associates, by: Lynn D. Lisk, Little Rock, for appellant.

Mark Pryor, Att'y Gen., by: Valerie L. Kelly, Ass't Att'y Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

JOHN F. STROUD, JR., Chief Judge.

Appellant, Rene Charles Taylor, was convicted by a Pope County jury of battery in the first degree. He was sentenced to serve two years in the Arkansas Department of Correction, with an additional three years suspended based upon the conditions that he live a law-abiding life and obtain counseling, and he was fined $15,000. On appeal, he argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict; that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on lesser-included offenses; and that the trial court erred by not declaring a mistrial or admonishing the jury based on comments made during the State's closing arguments. We affirm.

Although Taylor's state of mind was contested at trial in his motions for directed verdict, the other facts pertaining to the case were not seriously disputed except in Taylor's testimony during the sentencing phase of the trial, which is not pertinent to the issues being appealed. The testimony at trial revealed that in January 2000, Dr. Carroll Don Johnson and his wife had rented a trailer from Taylor and his wife while remodeling their newly purchased home. Johnson borrowed Taylor's backhoe to remove some stumps from his property, and he agreed that in return, he would purchase a swing set for Taylor's daughter. Johnson also agreed to allow Taylor to use his condominium in Florida at some time. While Johnson had the backhoe, the windshield was broken when the exhaust pipe fell off the backhoe and struck the glass, and Johnson offered to repair the windshield.

In April 2000, Johnson and his wife moved out of Taylor's property. On April 30, 2000, Johnson went to see Taylor about the repair of the backhoe windshield and the refund of his $250 rental deposit. When Johnson arrived at Taylor's house, Taylor presented him with a document detailing all of their past "agreements" and asked Johnson to sign it. Johnson refused to sign the formal document, stating that he thought the two of them had a gentleman's agreement. A disagreement ensued, and Taylor told Johnson to get out of his house. When Johnson got up to leave, Taylor rushed toward him and began pushing him; Johnson pushed Taylor back and hit him in the face with his fist, bloodying Taylor's nose. When Johnson turned to leave again, Taylor jumped on his back and pinned him to the table; Johnson "nosedived" Taylor off his back and onto the floor, hitting Taylor so hard in the back of the head that he broke his hand. Johnson pinned Taylor to the ground; Taylor said, "I give"; and Johnson, after inquiring if Taylor was okay, got up yet again to leave. Johnson saw Taylor go to a cabinet, reach up, and come down with a pistol. Johnson ran past Taylor, pushing him in the back as he passed, and ran out the door. Johnson ran around the corner of the garage yelling for help, and he started running across a field toward Taylor's in-laws' house. When Johnson turned around, he saw Taylor at the end of the garage with a .22 rifle, and he saw three rounds "dance around his feet" as he ran. Johnson said there was a pause, and then there were four "bams." He said that he saw one shot go in and come out of his leg, and another shot hit him in the buttocks. He continued to run until he was hit in his right side and was knocked down. Johnson said that he heard Taylor yell that he was going to kill him, and that he feared for his life. The wife of one man who heard Johnson's calls for help called 911, and another man came to Johnson's aid, helping him to move behind a house for cover and calling for an ambulance. Johnson was taken to the hospital, where he underwent exploratory surgery to rule out any internal injuries.

Although Taylor raises the issue of the sufficiency of the evidence as his last point on appeal, double jeopardy considerations require that we consider sufficiency of the evidence before the other points raised. Diemer v. State, 340 Ark. 223, 9 S.W.3d 490 (2000). A directed-verdict motion is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Ward v. State, 64 Ark.App. 120, 981 S.W.2d 96 (1998). When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged, we consider only the evidence that supports the verdict, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. Harris v. State, 72 Ark.App. 227, 35 S.W.3d 819 (2000). The test is whether there is substantial evidence to support the verdict, which is evidence that is of sufficient force and character that it will, with reasonable certainty, compel a conclusion one way or another. Id.

Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-13-201(a)(7) (Repl.1997) provides that a person commits battery in the first degree if, "with the purpose of causing physical injury to another person he causes physical injury to any person by means of a firearm." Taylor argues on appeal that the evidence presented by the State did not show that he was trying to cause physical injury to Johnson when he shot at him with the .22 rifle. He contends that "merely firing the rifle in [Johnson's] direction is insufficient" to prove that he purposefully shot Johnson, and he points to the fact that he did not use his larger.380 handgun as evidence that he did not have the purpose to injure Johnson.

This argument is unavailing. A person acts purposely with respect to his conduct or a result thereof when it is his conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result. Ark.Code Ann. § 5-2-202(1) (Repl.1997). Intent can seldom be proven by direct evidence and must usually be inferred from the circumstances surrounding the crime; because of the difficulty in ascertaining a person's intent, a presumption exists that a person intends the natural and probable consequences of his acts. Brown v. State, 54 Ark.App. 44, 924 S.W.2d 251 (1996). The jury is allowed to draw upon its own common knowledge and experience to infer intent from the circumstances. Id. Here, the evidence showed that Taylor fired multiple shots at Johnson, there was a pause during the time that the shots were fired, and Johnson was then hit by three bullets. When Taylor began firing a gun at Johnson, it was presumed that he intended the natural and probable consequence of his actions, which was that he shot Johnson. There is sufficient evidence to support Taylor's first-degree battery conviction.

Taylor's next argument is that the trial court erred by refusing to give the jury his proffered instructions for second- and third-degree battery, contending that those offenses were lesser-included offenses of battery in the first degree. Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-1-110(b)(1)-(3) (Repl.1997) states that an offense must meet one of the following criteria to be considered a lesser-included offense: (1) it is established by proof of the same or less than all the elements of the greater offense; or (2) it consists of an attempt to commit the offense charged or to commit an offense otherwise included within it; or (3) it differs from the offense charged only in the respect that a less serious injury or risk of injury to the same person, property, or public interest or a lesser kind of culpable mental state suffices to establish its commission.¹ A trial court's decision to exclude an instruction on a lesser-included offense will be affirmed only if there is no rational basis for giving the instruction. Britt v. State, 344 Ark. 13, 38 S.W.3d 363 (2001).

At trial, the judge instructed the jury that to convict Taylor of first-degree battery, the State must have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Taylor, with the purpose of causing physical injury to Johnson, caused physical injury to Johnson by means of a firearm. Taylor's proffered instruction on battery in the second degree stated:

If you have a reasonable doubt of the guilt of Rene Taylor on the charge of Battery in the First Degree you will then consider the charge of Battery in the Second Degree. To sustain this charge the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that:

Rene Taylor, with the purpose of causing physical injury to Carroll Johnson, caused serious physical injury to Carroll Johnson.

OR

Rene Taylor recklessly caused serious physical injury to Carroll Johnson by means of a deadly weapon.

Definitions

"Serious physical injury" means physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of health, or loss or protracted impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

"Physical injury" means the impairment of physical condition or the infliction of substantial pain.

"Deadly weapon" means a firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious physical injury or anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious physical injury.

"Purpose"—A person acts with purpose with respect to his conduct or a result thereof when it is his conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result.

"Recklessly"—A person acts recklessly with respect to the results of his conduct when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the results will occur. The risk must be of a nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the defendant's situation.

The proposed instruction for second-degree battery does not describe a lesser-included offense under Ark.Code Ann. § 5-1-110(b)(1) because both alternatives given in the proffered instruction require an additional element, serious physical injury, that is not required in the first-degree...