Williams v. State, CR 01-1170.

• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: W. "Dub" Arnold
• Citation: Williams v. State, 351 Ark. 215, 91 S.W.3d 54 (Ark. 2002)
• Decision Date: 05 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. CR 01-1170.,CR 01-1170.
• Parties: Phillip Dewayne WILLIAMS v. STATE of Arkansas.

Page 54

91 S.W.3d 54

351 Ark. 215

Phillip Dewayne WILLIAMS v. STATE of Arkansas.

No. CR 01-1170.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

December 5, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Henry & Cullen, L.L.P., by: Tim Cullen, for appellant.

Mark Pryor, Att'y Gen., by: Lauren Elizabeth Heil, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

W.H. "Dub" Arnold, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Phillip Dewayne Williams, was charged with one count of capitalfelony murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, and one count of misdemeanor theft of property. A Pulaski County jury convicted him on all counts, and the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole for capital murder, and twenty-year terms of imprisonment on each of the aggravated robbery convictions. His sentence for misdemeanor theft of property merged into his felony conviction sentences pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 5-4-404(c)(1) (Supp.2001).

On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court erred by denying his motions for directed verdict, challenging the court's finding of substantial evidence to support the judgment on each count. Additionally, appellant challenges the constitutionality of Arkansas's substantial-evidence standard of review and the constitutionality of Rule 5-2(d) of the Rules of the Supreme Court, which denies him the opportunity to cite favorable precedent from unpublished decisions of the Arkansas Court of Appeals. We affirm.

I. Motions for Directed Verdict

A motion for directed verdict is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. See, e.g., Tester v. State, 342 Ark. 549, 30 S.W.3d 99 (2000). The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Id. Substantial evidence is evidence that is of sufficient certainty and precision to compel a conclusion. Id. Circumstantial evidence is substantial when it excludes every reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence, and whether it does is a question for the jury. See Gregory v. State, 341 Ark. 243, 15 S.W.3d 690 (2000). In a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, the appellate court reviews the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. Id.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred by denying his motions for directed verdict, challenging the court's finding of substantial evidence to support the judgment on each count. We disagree. The facts adduced at trial are as follows: on August 2, 2000, LaShun Henderson was on the porch of his home at 3214 Martin Luther King Drive in Little Rock. He was talking with Kevin Williams, his brother Derrick, and his first cousin, Eldrick Williams. As Eldrick left to wash dishes and the others started to go inside, a car pulled up in the alley beside the house. LaShun Henderson testified that, shortly thereafter, two men came into the house "yelling and shouting" and "pointing their guns in our face[s]." According to Henderson, the men ordered him to take off his clothes and lie on the floor, and one of them demanded money. One of the men, who was wearing a blue shirt, took money that Derrick had lying on a dresser. After taking the money, the men began to leave the house.

The men ran into Eldrick on the porch as they were leaving, and, at that point, Mr. Henderson heard gunshots. The appellant, who was wearing red and black, shot Eldrick. There were, according to testimony, "numerous gunshots," including one fired by the appellant's accomplice back into the room. According to Mr. Henderson, Eldrick did not have a gun.

Barbara Henderson, Eldrick Williams's aunt, also testified. She stated that she was upstairs in the house on August 2, 2000, when her nephew came and told her that there were two men downstairs with guns. Ms. Henderson testified that she heard a gunshot as she made her way down the stairs, and when she could see the porch, she saw two men with Eldrick. She stated that Eldrick "couldn't control [him]self"; he was "falling down," and she saw one of the men — the one who was wearing red — standing over him and shooting at him three or four times. Ms. Henderson also testified that Eldrick did not have a gun.

The appellant's accomplice, Kareem Holloway, also testified for the State. Mr. Holloway stated that, on August 2, 2000, he was sleeping at his girlfriend's house when the appellant arrived. They decided to go buy a sack of marijuana, and the appellant drove Mr. Holloway and two other friends to the house on Martin Luther King Drive in Little Rock. When they arrived at the house, the appellant got out of the car and began talking to three or four young. men. Soon afterward, Mr. Holloway decided that he wanted to buy his own sack of marijuana and approached the house. He began talking to Kevin Williams in the doorway, while the appellant talked with Derrick Williams beside a bed in the interior of the house. Mr. Holloway subsequently followed Kevin into the house, where he saw $500.00 on a dresser. After putting the money in his pocket and turning back around, Mr. Holloway saw LaShun Henderson waving a gun, whereupon he, the appellant, and Derrick Williams all drew their weapons.

After drawing their weapons, Mr. Holloway and the appellant began to walk backwards out of the house. As they were leaving, Eldrick Williams ran in the house through the back door, ran out, and then ran back into the house, whereupon the appellant "turned around and shot him." According to Mr. Holloway, the appellant, rather than walking around Eldrick after he shot him, "turned around and grabbed him in a headlock and ... started shooting him in the head." He estimated that the appellant shot Eldrick "about seven times." Mr. Holloway testified that he and the appellant were armed with a .38 revolver and a 9 millimeter handgun, respectively, but that Eldrick did not have a gun. After the shooting, Mr. Holloway and the appellant left the house on Martin Luther King Drive, separated briefly, and then met in North Little Rock, where they exchanged the money and marijuana that they had taken from the house.

Scientific testimony indicated that Eldrick died as a result of several gunshot wounds fired at close range. James Looney, an expert in tool marks and firearms from the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, testified that several projectiles recovered from the scene, including one that was recovered from Eldrick's body, were all fired from the same 9-millimeter weapon. Jeff Taylor, a trace-evidence expert from the laboratory, added that gunpowder residue on Eldrick's clothing and on the hair surrounding his head wound indicated that he was shot at close range. Dr. Stephen Erickson, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, testified that Eldrick sustained six gunshot wounds of varying kinds and severity. One of the bullets entered his left hip and broke his femur, which could have caused him to collapse to his knees. Other bullets caused wounds to his left bicep, the top of his left shoulder, and his left thumb, while two wounds, one to his head and one at the base of his neck, could have been fatal. According to Dr. Erickson, the head wound could have occurred while Eldrick was held in a headlock and shot at close range.

The appellant also testified on his own behalf at trial. He stated that he went to the house on Martin Luther King Drive to buy marijuana. He entered the house with Derrick Williams, Kevin Williams, and LaShun Henderson. Mr. Holloway unexpectedly followed them into the house and, as the appellant examined bags of marijuana, he heard shouting that caused him to turn around. He saw Mr. Holloway standing with his gun and money in his hands. LaShun Henderson then pulled a gun out from underneath a bed, provoking the appellant to pull his gun out of the waistband of his pants. The appellant testified that he was trying to back out of the house when Eldrick entered the room, looked at the men holding guns, and ran back out. By that time, Derrick was also pointing a gun. As the appellant continued to attempt to back out of the room, he ran into Eldrick, who was hollering and rushing toward him. The appellant testified that he believed that Eldrick had run to get a gun, and, with Derrick also shooting at him by that time, shot the floor near Eldrick and told him to stop. When Eldrick did not stop, he shot at him a second time from a distance of about five or six feet. According to the appellant, he did not know of any plan to take money, and he only shot at Eldrick because he believed that he had a gun, and, as a result, feared for his own life.

Appellant first contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion for a directed verdict on the charge of capital murder because there was insufficient evidence that he was an accomplice to either of the aggravated robberies and, because he shot Eldrick only in self-defense, that there was insufficient evidence that he acted with extreme indifference to the value of human life. He also appears to assert that the capital murder charge must fail because there is no conclusive evidence that his gun fired the fatal bullets. Furthermore, regarding the aggravated robbery of LaShun Henderson, the appellant contends that insufficient evidence supports that conviction because there was no proof that anything was taken from him. Regarding the aggravated robbery of Derrick Williams, he argues that there was no evidence that he knew of Mr. Holloway's plan to take the money belonging to Mr. Williams, and that Mr. Holloway's claim that they split the proceeds afterwards is uncorroborated accomplice testimony. He also contends that LaShun Henderson's testimony, which independently establishes the elements of aggravated robbery, should be disregarded on review because it is largely uncorroborated and, therefore, "clearly unbelievable."

As an initial matter, this Court will not dismiss LaShun Henderson's testimony as "clearly unbelievable." The weighing of evidence lies within the province of the jury, and ...