Wilson v. State
| Decision Date | 22 September 2022 |
| Docket Number | CR-21-598 |
| Citation | 2022 Ark. 158,651 S.W.3d 717 |
| Parties | Justin WILSON, Appellant v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
James Law Firm, by: J. Daniel Hall and William O. "Bill" James, Jr., for appellant.
Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Michael Zangari, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.
Appellant, Justin Wilson, appeals his convictions in the Miller County Circuit Court for two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault, one count of aggravated robbery, committing the attempted murder in the presence of a child and using a firearm in the commission of the other crimes. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of life in prison for each murder.1 For reversal, Wilson argues that (1) surviving victim Lajhonta Collier's testimony identifying him as the perpetrator should have been suppressed, and (2) in the absence of Collier's testimony, the State presented insufficient evidence to support the jury's conclusion that he was the person who committed the crimes. We affirm.
On August 19, 2021, Wilson was charged by amended criminal information with two counts of murder in the first degree, one count of attempted murder in the first degree, one count of aggravated assault, and one count of aggravated robbery. Because a firearm was used, the State sought a sentencing enhancement on both murder counts, the aggravated assault count, and the aggravated-robbery count. The State also sought a sentencing enhancement on the attempted-murder count because the crime was committed in the presence of a child.
The trial was held August 23–24, 2021. According to evidence presented at trial, Cleveland Watson III, a Domino's Pizza employee, called 911 on August 28, 2019, to report three shooting victims in apartment 52 at the Shangri-La apartment complex in Texarkana. That was Lajhonta Collier's apartment. Two of the victims, Scott Weigmann and Reginald Davis, were deceased when officers arrived. Collier had been shot in the neck and was initially feared to be dead. However, when responding officers determined that Collier was alive, he was transported to a hospital. Officers at the scene found a gun, marijuana, and scattered money inside the apartment. They also located a bullet underneath Weigmann's body and another stuck in a nearby wall. Collier's eight-year-old son was found unharmed in a bedroom where he had been watching The Lion King. Outside, police found money leading from the apartment and into the courtyard. Investigators eventually recovered $2,493 from the scene.
Detective Shane Kirkland of the Texarkana Police Department investigated the crimes. The night of the shootings, Kirkland interviewed Watson and Larozi Davis III, who was another witness at the apartment complex. Davis resided in an apartment near Collier's and heard gunshots. Like Watson, he also called 911. Both Watson and Davis reported seeing a light-skinned black man with curly hair on the top of his head running from the scene. They each said that the man was wearing a white shirt with dark pants. Davis remembered hearing someone say "Justin" as the man was running. Davis later went to the police station for an interview. He used his own phone to access Collier's Facebook account and located a photograph of Wilson, Collier, and Ethan Johnson.2 From that photograph, Davis identified Wilson as resembling the man he had seen running. After Kirkland received the statements from Watson and Davis, he made a copy of the photograph that Davis had located and went to the hospital to interview Collier. Kirkland was concerned that Collier would not survive his injury. At the hospital, Collier told Kirkland that Wilson had been the shooter. After Collier's statement, Kirkland showed Collier the photograph that Davis had selected. Collier identified Wilson in the photograph and said that he was the shooter.
Collier survived the shooting and was the State's key witness. He testified that he lived in Shangri-La, apartment 52, on August 28, 2019, that Wilson had been over to his apartment multiple times prior to the night of the shootings, and that he and Wilson had grown up together. He recalled that the day before the shootings, he took the photograph of him, Johnson, and Wilson. Collier said that he posted that photograph on Facebook, and he identified Wilson in the photograph. Collier then recounted the events leading to the shootings. According to Collier, Wilson had arranged to come by the apartment to purchase marijuana. Collier said that he and the other victims were in the apartment when Wilson knocked on the door, and Collier's son let him in. Collier testified that he put his son in the bedroom and returned to the living area and began to argue with Davis about allowing the child to open the door. Collier said that he then turned to go back to the bedroom. Collier recalled that as he turned, Wilson pulled out a gun and shot him in the neck. He said that he fell to the floor but was still conscious and saw Weigmann and Davis fall after they were shot. Collier testified that he heard Wilson going through his cabinets where he kept his money and that he believed that Wilson took money and marijuana from him. Collier conceded that he first told responding officers at the apartment that "Ethan" was the shooter. Collier explained that at the time, he was "in and out," and "laying on the floor ... paralyzed." He testified that he was also "bleeding out" and that he was mistaken when he initially identified Ethan.
The State also presented testimony from Dylan Ray. Ray was housed with Wilson at the Miller County jail. Ray testified that Wilson had discussed the shooting at the Shangri-La Apartments and that Wilson told him he had shot three people and discarded the gun at a park. Ray also said that Wilson told him that his biggest regret was that one shooting victim had survived. Other evidence at the trial included testimony from officers that they found marijuana, a gun, and $639 at Wilson's mother's residence, where they had taken Wilson into custody the day after the shootings. The marijuana was packaged in the same type of FoodSaver bags as the marijuana found in Collier's apartment.
Dr. Jennifer Forsyth, a forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsies of Weigmann and Davis, testified that Weigmann died of gunshot wounds to the head and torso. She concluded that Davis died of a gunshot wound to the head. Although projectiles were recovered from the apartment and the bodies of the deceased, the State's ballistics expert testified that they were not fired from any of the firearms that were tested.3 The gun used in the shootings was never located.
Wilson testified in his own defense. He admitted that he had been dressed in a white shirt and black pants on August 28, 2019, and that he had been to Collier's apartment twice that day. According to Wilson, the second time he went to the apartment, he intended to purchase marijuana. He said that he obtained some marijuana and went to the bathroom. Wilson testified that as he was in the hallway returning to the living area, he saw Weigmann being forced into the front door and two men coming in behind him. Wilson said that he saw that one of the men had a gun and that he therefore retreated as shooting began. He said that he came out after the shooting ended, checked Collier's pulse, and fled the scene. Wilson agreed that he was probably the running man that Davis described seeing the night of the shootings. Wilson said that after he left the apartment, he went with some friends to buy groceries and cook hamburgers. He admitted that he did not call police at any point that night.
The circuit court denied Wilson's motions for a directed verdict. Following closing arguments, the case was submitted to the jury, which found Wilson guilty on all counts. Wilson filed a timely appeal.
Although it is presented as his second point on appeal, we first address Wilson's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence due to double-jeopardy considerations. Armstrong v. State , 2020 Ark. 309, 607 S.W.3d 491. Wilson contends that without Collier's testimony, the State presented insufficient evidence to support the jury's conclusion that he was the one who had committed the crimes.
In reviewing a sufficiency challenge, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, considering only the evidence that supports the verdict. McCray v. State , 2020 Ark. 172, 598 S.W.3d 509. This consideration encompasses all the evidence presented at trial, including that which may have been inadmissible. Watson v. State , 2014 Ark. 203, 444 S.W.3d 835. We will affirm a judgment of conviction if substantial evidence exists to support it. Armstrong v. State , 2020 Ark. 309, 607 S.W.3d 491. Substantial evidence is evidence that is of sufficient force and character that it will, with reasonable certainty, compel a conclusion one way or the other without resorting to speculation or conjecture. Id. Direct evidence is evidence that proves a fact without resort to inference when, for example, it is proved by witnesses who testify to what they saw, heard, or experienced. Chatmon v. State , 2015 Ark. 28, 467 S.W.3d 731. Circumstantial evidence is evidence of circumstances from which a fact may be inferred. Id. Circumstantial evidence may provide a basis to support a conviction, but it must be consistent with the defendant's guilt and inconsistent with any other reasonable conclusion. Armstrong , 2020 Ark. 309, 607 S.W.3d 491. Whether the evidence excludes every other hypothesis is left to the jury to decide. Id. Further, the credibility of witnesses is an issue for the jury, not the court; the trier of fact is free to believe all or part of any witness's testimony and may resolve questions of conflicting testimony and inconsistent evidence. Howard v. State , 2016 Ark. 434, 506 S.W.3d 843.
Wilson was convicted of two counts of...
To continue reading
Request your trial