Trimble v. State

• Decision Date: 28 February 1994
• Docket Number: No. CR,CR
• Citation: 316 Ark. 161,871 S.W.2d 562
• Parties: Kenneth Thomas TRIMBLE, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 93-196.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 562

871 S.W.2d 562

316 Ark. 161

Kenneth Thomas TRIMBLE, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

No. CR 93-196.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Feb. 28, 1994.

Jeff Rosenzweig, Little Rock, for appellant.

Kent G. Holt, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

BROWN, Justice.

This is a capital murder case arising out of the theft of hunting dogs belonging to Raymond Jacobs and the murder of Jacobs. The appellant, Kenneth Thomas Trimble, and John Young were both charged with capital murder. Trimble was tried first, convicted of the crime, and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He appeals, raising seven points, none of which has merit. The judgment of conviction is affirmed.

The procedural history of this case involves both Trimble and John Young and is somewhat convoluted, which is part of the basis for Trimble's appeal. Raymond Jacobs raised hunting dogs at his home in Benton. On April 28, 1992, Young delivered four or five dogs to Jacobs, and Jacobs's records indicate that Young sold the dogs to him. On the evening of May 8, 1992, Jacobs's body was found in his barn at his residence. He had been stabbed multiple times with a pitchfork and bludgeoned with a hammer. Blood was found on the ground leading to the dog pens. Several of his dogs were missing.

Following the initial crime scene investigation, Saline County Sheriff's deputies travelled to Young's residence in Missouri and talked with him. At the time Young was not a suspect. Young told the investigators that he and Trimble had been at Jacobs's residence on May 8, 1992, and that he had picked up four dogs. Young said that Jacobs was alive when he left.

On May 11, 1992, Young was interviewed again. This time, he was informed that he was a suspect and was read his Miranda rights. On May 12, 1992, an information was filed charging Trimble and Young with theft of property, to wit, the dogs. On June 1, 1992, the charge was amended to capital murder and robbery. On June 4, 1992, Young was granted immunity on the capital murder charge by the circuit judge in return for his agreement to supply "complete and truthful information and data" to those investigating Jacobs's death.

After Young was granted immunity, he gave a statement about events surrounding Jacobs's murder and stated that it was Trimble who killed Jacobs. Afterwards, Young took investigators to various locations in North Central Arkansas to recover physical evidence which included the blood-stained clothing of Young and Trimble, the collars of the stolen dogs, and the hammer used in the slaying. Young told investigators that he and Trimble had purchased new clothing at a Wal-Mart store in Clinton. This enabled the investigators to locate Crystal Shaffer, a Wal-Mart employee who sold the clothing.

Following Young's immunity grant and statement, Trimble was advised by his attorney to give his own statement. On June 23 1992, Trimble gave a videotaped statement to Saline County Sheriff's deputies in which he admitted going to the Jacobs residence with Young and that Young intended to steal the dogs. He further admitted registering in a motel under a false name. He denied, though, that he participated in the murder of Jacobs and claimed that the murder was committed solely by Young. Trimble said that Young had been in the barn alone with Jacobs and came out with blood on his clothing. He also said that he got blood on his clothes after Young grabbed him. On the drive back to Missouri, Trimble told the deputies that Young threw the bloody clothes, dog collars, and hammer out the window. Trimble said he bought new clothes at a Wal-Mart store.

Following a hearing on August 24, 1992, Young's immunity was revoked by the circuit judge for inconsistent statements to the prosecutor and for failure to cooperate. Trimble then filed a motion to suppress his statement, claiming that it had been coerced because he only gave it after Young had been granted immunity and had made a statement implicating him and raising the issue of ineffective counsel.

On August 17, 1992--the day before the trial began--a motion requesting that the circuit judge recuse because his son, John Lee Cole, was employed by the prosecuting attorney's office was heard. The judge concluded that his son, age 20, was working merely as an errand boy in the hot checks division during the summer and did not live at home. On that basis, he denied the motion.

Also at that hearing, the circuit judge brought up the matter of the State's revoking the grant of immunity to Young. The prosecutor stated that Young would not be called as a witness against Trimble and that the State would not use any physical evidence recovered from Young after he was granted immunity on June 4, 1992.

The circuit judge then heard Trimble's motion to suppress his statement on grounds of coercion effected by Young's grant of immunity and statement and by ineffective counsel. Trimble testified that under these circumstances his attorney advised him that he had no choice but to give a statement. The circuit judge found no coercion and denied the motion.

The case was tried over two days on August 18-19, 1992. Trimble was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole.

On September 14, 1992, Trimble filed a motion for new trial alleging juror misconduct, the failure of Circuit Judge John Cole to recuse, and an improper grant of immunity to Young. In support of his motion, Trimble offered four affidavits: (1-2) Mark Marcus and David Hunter, who stated that they saw the son of the victim, Jeff Jacobs, talking with members of the jury; and (3-4) Kenneth Trimble and Lora Trimble, who stated that they were seated behind a person who was later selected as jury foreman, Michael Brown, and who said that Trimble looked "old enough to know better." Testimony was taken from the jury foreman and the son of the victim, both of whom denied the allegations.

On October 21, 1992, the circuit judge ordered Trimble to testify at Young's trial, which commenced that date. Trimble did so and testified essentially to what he said in his videotaped statement which was used against him at his own trial. Young was convicted of capital murder.

On October 26, 1992, Trimble filed an amended motion for new trial and a petition for writ of error coram nobis on grounds that at his trial, the State introduced his statement against him and labeled it as false. At Young's trial, however, he was ordered to testify. Trimble contended that if the State believed his statement was a lie at his trial, it either offered false testimony at Young's trial or learned after the first trial that Trimble's statement was true.

On November 9, 1992, the circuit judge denied Trimble's motion for a new trial and petition for a writ of error coram nobis.

I. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

We first consider whether the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict. The standard of review for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is clear and was recently set out in Sheridan v. State, 313 Ark. 23, 30-31, 852 S.W.2d 772, 775-776 (1993):

On appeal, the appellate court does not weigh evidence on one side against the other; it simply determines whether the evidence in support of the verdict is substantial. Brown v. State, 309 Ark. 503, 832 S.W.2d 477 (1992); Black v. State, 306 Ark. 394, 814 S.W.2d 905 (1991). Substantial evidence is that which is forceful enough to compel reasonable minds to reach a conclusion one way or another. Lukach v. State, 310 Ark. 38, 834 S.W.2d 642 (1992); Smith v. State, 308 Ark. 390, 824 S.W.2d 838 (1992); Williams v. State, 304 Ark. 509, 804 S.W.2d 346 (1991). Circumstantial evidence may constitute substantial evidence. Hill v. State, 299 Ark. 327, 773 S.W.2d 424 (1989). To be sufficient to sustain a conviction, the circumstantial evidence must exclude every other reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence. Bennett v. State, 308 Ark. 393, 825 S.W.2d 560 (1992). This becomes a question for the fact finder to determine. Id. In determining whether there was substantial evidence, the court reviews the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee. Pope v. State, 262 Ark. 476, 557 S.W.2d 887 (1977). Guilt may be proved, even in the absence of eyewitness testimony, and evidence of guilt is not less because it is circumstantial. Smith v. State, 282 Ark. 535, 669 S.W.2d 201 (1984). See also Standridge v. State, 310 Ark. 408, 837 S.W.2d 447 (1992); Abdullah v. State, 301 Ark. 235, 783 S.W.2d 58 (1990).

It is readily apparent that the evidence in support of the verdict was substantial, albeit circumstantial. Trimble was familiar with the dealings between Jacobs and Young and Young's dealings with three prior dog owners. He accompanied Young to Jacobs's house knowing, by his own admission, that Young intended to steal the dogs from Jacobs. He later checked into a motel with Young, using a false name. His statement also supports the verdict with respect to the planning and travel to Benton, the initial attempt to steal the dogs, and later the attempt of the two men to get rid of their bloody clothes, the dog collars, and the murder weapon as well as Trimble's purchase of new clothes at the Wal-Mart store. His contention that the murder was perpetrated by one person is contrary to the physical evidence which reveals multiple blows from two weapons. Dr. William Sturner, Chief Medical Examiner for the Arkansas Crime Lab, found as many as 40 blows inflicted on Jacobs. The wounds were lacerating wounds and blunt force wounds suggesting two different weapons. A pitchfork was found under Jacobs's body. Trimble, in his statement, referred to a hammer as the weapon used by Young. The jury clearly was not bound by Trimble's version of the murder itself and based on the evidence presented could have concluded that Trimble was lying when he said he was not involved in the murder. See Heard v. State, 284 Ark. 457, 683 S.W.2d 232 (1985). We find no...