Williams v. State

• Decision Date: 10 June 1999
• Docket Number: No. CR,CR
• Citation: 991 S.W.2d 565,338 Ark. 97
• Parties: Marcel Wayne WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 95-923.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 565

991 S.W.2d 565

338 Ark. 97

Marcel Wayne WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

No. CR 95-923.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

June 10, 1999.

Herbert T. Wright, Jr., P.A., Little Rock, for appellant.

Mark Pryor, Att'y Gen., Kent G. Holt, Ass't Att'y Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

LAVENSKI R. SMITH, Justice.

Appellant Marcel Williams appeals his convictions for capital murder, kidnapping, rape, and aggravated robbery from the Pulaski County Circuit Court. Following conviction, the jury imposed a sentence of death. Williams asserts numerous errors in both the guilt and penalty phases of the trial. We find no reversible error and affirm.

Facts

On November 20, 1994, Stacy Errickson, the victim, on her way to work, stopped at the Jacksonville Shellstop for gas. The time was approximately 6:45 a.m. Williams approached Errickson's vehicle, drew a firearm, and forced her to move from the driver's seat to the passenger's side. Williams then drove Errickson's car away from the convenience store. Williams then took Errickson to several automated teller machines and coerced her to attempt withdrawals. A total of eighteen transactions yielded the sum of $350. The last transaction occurred at 7:37 a.m. These transactions were recorded by security cameras at several banking facilities. Stacy Errickson did not make it to work that day, nor did she pick up her child from the babysitter at the end of the day.

Police arrested Williams on an outstanding warrant on November 29, 1994, and questioned him based on physical evidence linking him to two other assaults on women. During the course of an intensive interrogation lasting some thirteen hours, Williams admitted having abducted Errickson from the convenience store and robbing her through ATM withdrawals. However, he denied any sexual assault and assured the officers that to the best of his knowledge Errickson was alive. Appellant attempted to implicate others as accomplices asserting that they were the ones responsible for physically harming her. Based upon information Williams supplied, the police recovered a sheet matching Williams description as one he used in connection with the abduction and also recovered a gold ring which Williams identified. On December 5, 1994, police discovered Stacy Errickson's body buried in a shallow grave. Other evidence adduced at trial indicated that witnesses Tammy Victoria and Tammy Keenahan identified Williams as a man they had seen on the morning of November 20, 1994, at the Shellstop. They also testified that after they left the station he followed them in a car and attempted to stop them until they sought refuge at the air force base. Williams subsequently returned to the Shellstop and abducted Stacy Errikson.

On April 5, 1995, the Pulaski County prosecutor by felony information charged Williams with capital murder, kidnapping, rape, and aggravated robbery. The information also asserted that Williams had four prior felony convictions. The Pulaski County Circuit Court tried Williams on these charges beginning on January 6, 1997. Appellant was convicted on all counts. During the sentencing phase of the trial the prosecutor introduced evidence in support of three aggravating circumstances, and the appellant offered one mitigating circumstance. The jury found that all three alleged aggravating circumstances existed beyond a reasonable doubt and that Williams's mitigating circumstance was also established. In balancing these findings the jury recommended a sentence of death, which the trial court accepted.

On appeal, Williams challenges the sufficiency of the evidence on all charges against him. Williams also contends the trial court committed reversible errors in refusing to strike the jury panel; in admitting his custodial statement; in admitting testimony of another victim in sentencing; in admitting other specific evidence; and in denying his pretrial death-penalty motions. We disagree and affirm.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

We consider sufficiency of the evidence before addressing other alleged trial errors. Britt v. State, 334 Ark. 142, 974 S.W.2d 436 (1998). The test for determining sufficiency of the evidence is whether there is substantial evidence to support the verdict. On appeal, we will review the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee and sustain the conviction if there is any substantial evidence to support the verdict. Davis v. State, 314 Ark. 257, 863 S.W.2d 259, 262 (1993) cert. den. 511 U.S. 1026, 114 S.Ct. 1417, 128 L.Ed.2d 88 (1994). Evidence is substantial if it is of sufficient force and character to compel reasonable minds to reach a conclusion and pass beyond suspicion and conjecture. Id. Only evidence supporting the verdict will be considered. Stewart v. State, 331 Ark. 359, 961 S.W.2d 750 (1998). It is important to note that we make no distinction between circumstantial and direct evidence when reviewing for sufficiency of the evidence. Davis, 314 Ark. at 264, 863 S.W.2d at 262. However, for circumstantial evidence to be sufficient, it must exclude every other reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence. Whether the evidence excludes every hypothesis is left to the jury to determine. Id. Booker v. State, 335 Ark. 316, 984 S.W.2d 16 (1998).

Appellant first asserts insufficiency of the evidence to support the element of forcible compulsion in the aggravated-robbery charge. A person commits aggravated robbery if he commits the offense of robbery, and is armed with a deadly weapon. Ark.Code Ann. § 5-12-103(a)(1) (Repl.1993). Our statutes focus on the threat of harm rather than the taking of property. Robinson v. State, 303 Ark. 351, 797 S.W.2d 425 (1990); Jarrett v. State, 265 Ark. 662, 580 S.W.2d 460 (1979). Williams, in his statement, told police he and his companions abducted the victim at gunpoint. Given the circumstances of her abduction, the jury could have reasonably believed that Williams also used the weapon to coerce the victim to accompany him to ATMs and hand her money over to him. We hold there was substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict on aggravated robbery.

Appellant next asserts insufficiency of the evidence to support forcible compulsion on the rape charge. This assertion is meritless. Forcible compulsion means "physical force or a threat, express or implied, of death or physical injury to or kidnapping of any person." Ark.Code Ann. § 5-14-101(2) (Repl.1997). We recently stated the relevant considerations in Freeman v. State, 331 Ark. 130, 132, 959 S.W.2d 400 (1998), where we said, " 'physical force' [is defined] as 'any bodily impact, restraint or confinement, or the threat thereof.' " Strawhacker v. State, 304 Ark. 726, 731, 804 S.W.2d 720, 723 (1991). The test that we have used to determine whether there was force is "whether the act was against the will of the party upon whom the act was committed." Mosley v. State, 323 Ark. 244, 249, 914 S.W.2d 731, 734 (1996). In the instant case, Williams abducted the victim at gunpoint, robbed her, and took her to a storage facility where the evidence shows she was sexually assaulted. There is no evidence of any consensual conduct in the events of November 20, 1994. Police discovered the victim's lunch cooler at the storage facility as well as an article of clothing that proved to contain evidence of Williams's assault upon the victim. Substantial evidence supports the verdict on the rape.

Similarly, appellant Williams then asserts there was insufficient evidence to show the kidnapping element of restraint. The assertion, though, is similarly meritless. Ark.Code Ann. Section 5-11-101(2) [Definitions] provides: "(2) 'Restraint without consent' includes restraint by physical force, threat, or deception, or in the case of a person who is under the age of fourteen (14) years or incompetent, restraint without the consent of a parent, guardian, or other person responsible for general supervision of his welfare...." The facts of this case indicate Williams restrained the victim by threat of force with a firearm. Also, the victim's hands were bound behind her back. The purpose of the restraint may be inferred from circumstantial evidence. Fairchild v. State, 305 Ark. 406, 808 S.W.2d 743 (1991). The circumstances surrounding Errickson's abduction clearly support the jury's verdict that she was restrained without consent.

Appellant Williams also asserts there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict for capital murder in that there was a failure to prove kidnapping. As discussed previously, we find substantial evidence supported the verdict for kidnapping. This assertion, therefore, is meritless.

Finally, with respect to sufficiency of evidence, Williams asserts there is insufficient evidence to support the imposition of the death penalty. We will uphold the jury's verdict if there existed substantial evidence for the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that one or more aggravating circumstances exist and that they outweighed any mitigating circumstances. Prior to trial, the State disclosed its intent to introduce evidence to establish the existence of four aggravating circumstances. They were:

(1) The defendant previously committed another felony, an element of which was the use or threat of violence to another person.

(2) The capital murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing an arrest.

(3) The defendant committed the murder of Stacy Errickson for pecuniary gain.

(4) The capital murder was committed in an especially cruel or depraved manner.

At trial, the State introduced evidence in support of (1), (3), and (4). In response, appellant introduced evidence which established the existence of one mitigating circumstance. Based on that evidence, the jury found that Williams accepted responsibility for his conduct and admitted participation in the crime. The State's evidence reflected Williams forcibly abducted Stacy Errikson, robbed her, raped her, and killed her. It...