Conner v. State

982 S.W.2d 655, 334 Ark. 457, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 541
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedOctober 8, 1998
DocketCR 97-1426
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 982 S.W.2d 655 (Conner v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Conner v. State, 982 S.W.2d 655, 334 Ark. 457, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 541 (Ark. 1998).

Opinions

Annabelle Clinton Imber, Justice.

The appellant, Corey Jermo Conner, was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the capital murder of Darrell Robinson. On appeal, Conner challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, the denial of his motion to suppress two custodial statements, the court’s refusal to read a non-model instruction on accomplice liability, and the effectiveness of his trial counsel. We affirm on all points.

On July 18, 1996, Darrell Robinson was shot and killed on Winchell Street in West Memphis. One witness, Michael Cox, saw Conner and two other males fire multiple gun shots at Robinson. Sometime later that evening, Conner voluntarily appeared at the police station where he was arrested and charged, as an adult, with capital murder.

The next day, July 19, 1996, Conner turned seventeen years old. Around 10:00 that morning, Conner executed a form waiving his Miranda rights and gave a tape-recorded statement to Detectives West and Burch. At the time, Conner weighed approximately 220 pounds, stood six feet three inches, was in the tenth grade, and had no prior experience with the criminal-justice system. During the questioning, Detectives West and Burch used the “good cop” “ bad cop” method to elicit information from Conner. Detective West falsely claimed that four or five witnesses reported seeing Conner with a gun at the time of the shooting. Conner contended that neither he nor his two friends fired shots at the victim. After warning Conner that only one of the three defendants would be able to obtain a plea bargain, Detective Burch, the “bad cop,” made the following statements:

pD]o you know what will happen if you are proven guilty of capital murder? . . . They strap you to a table and stick a needle in your arm and you go to sleep and you never wake up, that’s what happens, and I don’t believe a damn thing you’ve said since you started opening your mouth, you follow me?
* * *
We can save your life, we can save your life. We can be responsible for strapping you on the table, it’s up to you. Now if you want to get a little smart between your ears, and start telling the truth, as you see it, then Eddie and I can work with you and save your life. I am not promising you, but we can work with you and I am a man of my word and I won’t break it, you follow me?
* * *
I can be the most meanest son of a bitch that you ever walked across, and I don’t believe what you are saying.
The others, are going to burn, bubba, they are going to burn in hell, they are going to be strapped to a damn table, a damn needle stuck in their arm, and they are going to be gone, your chance, I am going to offer it to you, you blow it, you ain’t getting another one, because I got a whole lot to do today, and I am not going to set up here and plea with you to save your life, do you follow me?
Last chance, no more. Now, Eddie, I am a son of a bitch, do you follow me? I will give you a chance, now I’ll bust my ass to help you if you try to help yourself. You don’t, I’ll burn your ass in a heart beat, that’s the way I am, that’s the way I work.
As far as I am concerned, you’re a damn murderer. You deserve to be strapped to a table and stick a needle up your arm. If this new Huckabee have his way, your new governor, he’s going to reinstate the electric chair, he ain’t going this way no more. That’s one of Huckabee’s promises for law and order. I want to hear the truth. Start from the time that you got on Winchell Street and what took place, because I want to know, I want it hear it from your mouth.

After hearing these comments, Conner did not change his statement.

After the interview, which lasted from 10:07 to 10:33 a.m., Conner was placed in a holding cell where he made several phone calls. During this time, Conner spoke to his friend, Andrew McDaniel, who urged Conner to tell the truth. Around 1:30 or 2:00 p.m., Conner asked to speak with Detective West. Detective West brought Conner back to his office to make a second recorded statement. Detective Burch was not present, and Detective West did not repeat the Miranda warnings. During this second statement, Conner admitted that he had a gun but claimed that he ran away without firing a single shot as soon as the shooting began. Although Conner claimed that he threw the gun in the river by Airport Road, the police were unable to retrieve the gun. Conner completed his second statement at 2:50 p.m.

Conner and two others were subsequently charged with capital murder. Conner was tried separately, and a jury found him guilty of premeditated and deliberate capital murder. Because the State waived the death penalty, the court sentenced Conner to life imprisonment without parole.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Conner raises four issues on appeal, including his third argument that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction of capital murder. As we have said previously, double jeopardy considerations require us to consider a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence prior to all other arguments asserted on appeal. Britt v. State, 334 Ark. 142, 974 S.W.2d 436 (1998); Welch v. State, 330 Ark. 158, 955 S.W.2d 181 (1997).

At the conclusion of the State’s case-in-chief, Conner made the following motion for a directed verdict:

Your Honor, I would ask at this time since the State has rested, that a directed verdict be granted to the defendant. Based on the sum of the evidence presented, there would be no way that reasonable minds could differ as to the guilt or innocence of this defendant, and I ask for a directed verdict.

At the conclusion of all evidence, Conner renewed his motion for a directed verdict with the following statement:

Your Honor, at this time I would ask for a directed verdict based upon the evidence brought before the court, including the State’s case in chief as well as the defense’s presentation. There is no way reasonable minds could differ as to the guilt or innocence of Mr. Conner, and I would ask the Court direct a verdict.

In order to preserve a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, an appellant must make a specific motion for a directed verdict which advises the trial court of the exact element of the crime that the State has failed to prove. Fultz v. State, 333 Ark. 586, 972 S.W.2d 222 (1998); Dulaney v. State, 327 Ark. 30, 937 S.W.2d 162 (1997). In contrast, a general motion that merely asserts that the State has failed to prove its case is inadequate to preserve the issue for appeal. See, eg., Crisco v. State, 328 Ark. 388, 943 S.W.2d 582 (1997) (claiming that the State failed “to prove a prima facie case”); Lovelady v. State, 326 Ark. 196, 931 S.W.2d 430 (1996) (declaring that the State “failed to meet its burden of proof”). As in Crisco and Lovelady, Conner made a general motion for a directed verdict asserting that the State failed to prove its case. Accordingly, we hold that Conner’s sufficiency challenge is not properly preserved for appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
982 S.W.2d 655, 334 Ark. 457, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 541, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/conner-v-state-ark-1998.