Cite as 2024 Ark. App. 305 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION II No. CR-23-196
Opinion Delivered May 8, 2024
DEVALIN WISEMAN APPEAL FROM THE HOWARD COUNTY APPELLANT CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 31CR-21-101] V. HONORABLE BRYAN L. CHESSHIR, JUDGE STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE AFFIRMED
KENNETH S. HIXSON, Judge
Appellant Devalin Wiseman was convicted in a jury trial of first-degree murder
committed against his three-year-old son, MC. For this conviction, Wiseman was sentenced
to thirty years in prison. Wiseman now appeals, and his sole argument is that there was
insufficient evidence to support the verdict. Wiseman specifically argues that there was a
lack of proof that he knowingly caused MC’s death. We affirm.
Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-10-102(a)(3) (Supp. 2023) provides that a person
commits first-degree murder if the person knowingly causes the death of a person fourteen
years of age or younger. “Knowingly” is defined by Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-202(2) (Repl.
2013):
(2) “KNOWINGLY.” A person acts knowingly with respect to:
(A) The person’s conduct or the attendant circumstances when he or she is aware that his or her conduct is of that nature or that the attendant circumstances exist; or (B) A result of the person’s conduct when he or she is aware that it is practically certain that his or her conduct will cause the result[.]
In reviewing a sufficiency challenge, we assess the evidence in the light most favorable
to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Armstrong v. State, 2020
Ark. 309, 607 S.W.3d 491. We will affirm a judgment of conviction if substantial evidence
exists to support it. Id. 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. 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. Collins v. State, 2021 Ark. 35, 617 S.W.3d
701. 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. Armstrong, supra.
Wiseman lived in Mineral Springs with his girlfriend, Chasity Holmes. Also in the
home were Chasity’s two sons—ages five and four—and Wiseman’s two sons—MC, age three,
and MC’s two-year-old brother. Wiseman had taken custody of his sons from their mother
in Alabama about three months before MC’s death on November 14, 2021.
Chasity testified about the events that occurred on November 14, 2021. They were
at home that morning when Wiseman began to punish MC in the living room after MC had
used the bathroom on himself and MC was cussing. Chasity stated that Wiseman began
2 whipping MC on his behind and back and that Wiseman was using a belt, a long wooden
spoon, and his hand. MC was crying and begging Wiseman to stop. Chasity stated that she
had previously seen Wiseman discipline MC as recently as a week prior, but this time,
Wiseman was more upset, and this was above and beyond anything she had seen before.
Chasity indicated that Wiseman was the only person to discipline MC that day and that he
was constantly hitting MC. Chasity stated that MC was on his stomach and that Wiseman
had his knee in MC’s back, pinning him to the floor. Chasity stated that when Wiseman
had MC on the floor whipping him, she began to feel uncomfortable, and she left the living
room and went to another room with the other children.
Chasity testified that when she first left the living room, MC was still crying.
However, sometime later, it got quiet, and she returned to the living room. Chasity testified
that she saw MC lying motionless on the floor and his breathing was very faint. Chasity tried
to perform CPR on MC and told Wiseman to call for help. Wiseman responded, “Wait,
wait, I can’t go to jail for hurting my baby.” However, Chasity called 911, but because the
ambulance was taking too long, Chasity drove to Howard Memorial Hospital while Wiseman
sat in the backseat with MC, who was wrapped in a blanket.
Deputy Aaron Quick of the Howard County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to
Wiseman’s home in Mineral Springs but was then rerouted to Howard Memorial Hospital.
Deputy Quick testified that he went to the emergency room and saw several doctors and
nurses “working on a child [MC] who was laying on the bed motionless.” As hospital staff
continued their life-saving measures, Quick took photographs of MC’s observable injuries.
3 Deputy Quick stated that there were severe injuries to MC and that “[he] knew by looking
at the child it would be a major crime against this child so [he] wanted to document it.”
Deputy Quick stated that MC had multiple bruises all over his body, including his legs, arms,
torso, and head. Deputy Quick also observed several lacerations that looked fresh as well as
some that looked older and had “dried up.” Deputy Quick noted that MC never moved nor
spoke and that his eyes were open but he never moved them or blinked. Deputy Quick
testified that after observing and photographing MC’s condition, he “immediately stepped
out of the room and called [his] sheriff and [his] investigators to come to the hospital due to
the severity of the injuries of the child.” MC was transported from Howard Memorial
Hospital to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where he died later that day.
Chief Deputy Joey Davis conducted two Mirandized interviews with Wiseman that
day, which were recorded and played to the jury. The first interview occurred while MC was
still alive, and the second interview occurred after MC had passed away.
In the first interview, Wiseman stated that he had dropped out of high school in the
eleventh grade but that he had obtained a GED. Wiseman confirmed in the interview that
he understood his rights, and he agreed to give a statement. When asked about the incident
earlier that day involving MC, Wiseman stated that he whipped MC because MC had used
the bathroom on himself and was cussing and being disrespectful. Wiseman stated that he
whipped MC only on his buttocks (although he probably also accidentally hit MC’s back)
and that he used a belt, a wooden spoon, and a white extension cord. In the first interview,
Wiseman denied hitting MC with his hand. Wiseman stated that he whipped MC on and
4 off for thirty minutes that he “did kind of hit him hard,” and that MC fell a couple times.
Wiseman acknowledged in the first interview that he “should have never whipped him.”
After Wiseman gave the first interview, investigators obtained a search warrant and
searched Wiseman’s residence for implements used to carry out the beating. During the
search, investigators found a belt and a broken wooden spoon on the living room coffee
table. The belt was doubled over and broken, and broken pieces of the spoon were also
recovered. Beside the coffee table was an orange extension cord.
After the search and after MC had passed away, Chief Deputy Davis interviewed
Wiseman a second time. During that interview, Wiseman was shown photographs of MC’s
injuries and was told that MC had died.
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Cite as 2024 Ark. App. 305 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION II No. CR-23-196
Opinion Delivered May 8, 2024
DEVALIN WISEMAN APPEAL FROM THE HOWARD COUNTY APPELLANT CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 31CR-21-101] V. HONORABLE BRYAN L. CHESSHIR, JUDGE STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE AFFIRMED
KENNETH S. HIXSON, Judge
Appellant Devalin Wiseman was convicted in a jury trial of first-degree murder
committed against his three-year-old son, MC. For this conviction, Wiseman was sentenced
to thirty years in prison. Wiseman now appeals, and his sole argument is that there was
insufficient evidence to support the verdict. Wiseman specifically argues that there was a
lack of proof that he knowingly caused MC’s death. We affirm.
Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-10-102(a)(3) (Supp. 2023) provides that a person
commits first-degree murder if the person knowingly causes the death of a person fourteen
years of age or younger. “Knowingly” is defined by Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-202(2) (Repl.
2013):
(2) “KNOWINGLY.” A person acts knowingly with respect to:
(A) The person’s conduct or the attendant circumstances when he or she is aware that his or her conduct is of that nature or that the attendant circumstances exist; or (B) A result of the person’s conduct when he or she is aware that it is practically certain that his or her conduct will cause the result[.]
In reviewing a sufficiency challenge, we assess the evidence in the light most favorable
to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Armstrong v. State, 2020
Ark. 309, 607 S.W.3d 491. We will affirm a judgment of conviction if substantial evidence
exists to support it. Id. 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. 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. Collins v. State, 2021 Ark. 35, 617 S.W.3d
701. 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. Armstrong, supra.
Wiseman lived in Mineral Springs with his girlfriend, Chasity Holmes. Also in the
home were Chasity’s two sons—ages five and four—and Wiseman’s two sons—MC, age three,
and MC’s two-year-old brother. Wiseman had taken custody of his sons from their mother
in Alabama about three months before MC’s death on November 14, 2021.
Chasity testified about the events that occurred on November 14, 2021. They were
at home that morning when Wiseman began to punish MC in the living room after MC had
used the bathroom on himself and MC was cussing. Chasity stated that Wiseman began
2 whipping MC on his behind and back and that Wiseman was using a belt, a long wooden
spoon, and his hand. MC was crying and begging Wiseman to stop. Chasity stated that she
had previously seen Wiseman discipline MC as recently as a week prior, but this time,
Wiseman was more upset, and this was above and beyond anything she had seen before.
Chasity indicated that Wiseman was the only person to discipline MC that day and that he
was constantly hitting MC. Chasity stated that MC was on his stomach and that Wiseman
had his knee in MC’s back, pinning him to the floor. Chasity stated that when Wiseman
had MC on the floor whipping him, she began to feel uncomfortable, and she left the living
room and went to another room with the other children.
Chasity testified that when she first left the living room, MC was still crying.
However, sometime later, it got quiet, and she returned to the living room. Chasity testified
that she saw MC lying motionless on the floor and his breathing was very faint. Chasity tried
to perform CPR on MC and told Wiseman to call for help. Wiseman responded, “Wait,
wait, I can’t go to jail for hurting my baby.” However, Chasity called 911, but because the
ambulance was taking too long, Chasity drove to Howard Memorial Hospital while Wiseman
sat in the backseat with MC, who was wrapped in a blanket.
Deputy Aaron Quick of the Howard County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to
Wiseman’s home in Mineral Springs but was then rerouted to Howard Memorial Hospital.
Deputy Quick testified that he went to the emergency room and saw several doctors and
nurses “working on a child [MC] who was laying on the bed motionless.” As hospital staff
continued their life-saving measures, Quick took photographs of MC’s observable injuries.
3 Deputy Quick stated that there were severe injuries to MC and that “[he] knew by looking
at the child it would be a major crime against this child so [he] wanted to document it.”
Deputy Quick stated that MC had multiple bruises all over his body, including his legs, arms,
torso, and head. Deputy Quick also observed several lacerations that looked fresh as well as
some that looked older and had “dried up.” Deputy Quick noted that MC never moved nor
spoke and that his eyes were open but he never moved them or blinked. Deputy Quick
testified that after observing and photographing MC’s condition, he “immediately stepped
out of the room and called [his] sheriff and [his] investigators to come to the hospital due to
the severity of the injuries of the child.” MC was transported from Howard Memorial
Hospital to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where he died later that day.
Chief Deputy Joey Davis conducted two Mirandized interviews with Wiseman that
day, which were recorded and played to the jury. The first interview occurred while MC was
still alive, and the second interview occurred after MC had passed away.
In the first interview, Wiseman stated that he had dropped out of high school in the
eleventh grade but that he had obtained a GED. Wiseman confirmed in the interview that
he understood his rights, and he agreed to give a statement. When asked about the incident
earlier that day involving MC, Wiseman stated that he whipped MC because MC had used
the bathroom on himself and was cussing and being disrespectful. Wiseman stated that he
whipped MC only on his buttocks (although he probably also accidentally hit MC’s back)
and that he used a belt, a wooden spoon, and a white extension cord. In the first interview,
Wiseman denied hitting MC with his hand. Wiseman stated that he whipped MC on and
4 off for thirty minutes that he “did kind of hit him hard,” and that MC fell a couple times.
Wiseman acknowledged in the first interview that he “should have never whipped him.”
After Wiseman gave the first interview, investigators obtained a search warrant and
searched Wiseman’s residence for implements used to carry out the beating. During the
search, investigators found a belt and a broken wooden spoon on the living room coffee
table. The belt was doubled over and broken, and broken pieces of the spoon were also
recovered. Beside the coffee table was an orange extension cord.
After the search and after MC had passed away, Chief Deputy Davis interviewed
Wiseman a second time. During that interview, Wiseman was shown photographs of MC’s
injuries and was told that MC had died. Chief Deputy Davis asked Wiseman how MC got
all the injuries to his head. In his first interview, Wiseman did not acknowledge hitting MC
on his head; however, in the second interview, he admitted he had hit MC with his hand
four times on his head and that he “hit him pretty hard.” Wiseman stated that after the first
two hits to MC’s head, MC was not unconscious but appeared dizzy. In the second interview,
Wiseman stated, “I didn’t mean to go too far with it. I’m sorry, man.”
Dr. Charles Kokes, a medical examiner at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory,
performed an autopsy on MC and testified for the State. Dr. Kokes documented extensive
injuries to the child and noted that only MC’s lower legs and feet were relatively free of
external injury. Dr. Kokes testified that there were many linear and curved-patterned
contusions and abrasions on MC’s back, buttocks, shoulders, and the back of his thighs that
were indicative of being whipped with a belt and an extension cord. Dr. Kokes also observed
5 similar injuries to MC’s lower neck, chest, and abdomen. Dr. Kokes stated that there was
bruising and abrasions to MC’s right groin and right testicle, that MC’s right arm showed
areas of multiple injuries that were both fresh and healing, and that there were multiple
injuries, both fresh and healing, to MC’s face and the inside of his mouth. Dr. Kokes stated
further that there was a wide area of confluent or total contusion that went from MC’s left
scalp over his left forehead area onto the left side of his cheek and almost down to his jawline.
Dr. Kokes also performed an internal examination that included the dissection of
MC’s internal organs. MC’s internal injuries included a lacerated liver, perforation of the
duodenum, and contusions of the pancreas with corresponding bleeding in the abdominal
cavity. Dr. Kokes testified that the internal examination showed that MC had suffered a
forceful blow to his abdomen and that the mechanism of injury was application of force that
pushed the liver and other internal structures into the spine. Dr. Kokes also noted that there
was scar tissue on MC’s liver that indicated a level of healing anywhere from two weeks to
several months. Dr. Kokes’s internal examination also revealed hemorrhaging around MC’s
brain.
Dr. Kokes reported numerous blunt-force injuries on the skin surfaces of MC’s head,
neck, chest, abdomen, back, upper extremities, buttocks, and thighs. Dr. Kokes further
reported that the extremely visible injuries were associated with massive hemorrhage in the
underlying subcutaneous soft tissues. Dr. Kokes reported that the appearance of the injuries,
their anatomic locations, and their severity left no doubt that they were sustained as a result
of deliberate infliction. Dr. Kokes determined that MC died from multiple blunt-force
6 injuries and that the manner of death was a homicide. He also testified that MC’s injuries
were “completely inconsistent with any reasonable accidental scenario or situation.”
On the evidence presented, the jury convicted Wiseman of first-degree murder based
on its finding that Wiseman knowingly caused MC’s death. Wiseman now appeals.
Wiseman’s sole argument on appeal is that there was insufficient evidence to support
his first-degree-murder conviction. Wiseman specifically argues that there was a lack of proof
that he knowingly caused MC’s death.1 Wiseman asserts that it was not enough for the State
to show that Wiseman knowingly whipped MC, nor was it enough for the State to show that
Wiseman caused MC’s death. Instead, Wiseman argues, the State was required to prove that
he—a high-school dropout—was aware or practically certain that his whipping of MC would
cause MC to die, and he submits that element of proof was missing. In support of this
contention, Wiseman notes that when MC became unresponsive on the day of the beating,
Wiseman exclaimed, “My baby can’t die,” and when investigators told Wiseman that MC
had died during the second custodial interview, Wiseman insisted they were lying. Wiseman
contends that in light of the evidence presented, the jury had to resort to speculation and
conjecture to find that Wiseman knowingly caused MC’s death.
1 As support for his argument, Wiseman cites Ackers v. State, 73 Ark. 262, 83 S.W. 909 (1904), where Ackers’ second-degree-murder conviction for killing his daughter by excessive whipping was reversed and remanded. However, Ackers did not involve a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the conviction, and that case was reversed and remanded for a new trial due to the erroneous admission of prior bad acts and the failure to give a jury instruction based on a statute that no longer exists. Thus, Ackers is inapplicable.
7 In his argument, Wiseman further asserts that according to Dr. Kokes’s testimony,
some of MC’s internal injuries occurred between two weeks and no more than several
months prior to MC’s death. Wiseman contends that there was no direct evidence as to
how MC received these internal injuries and suggests that they may have been caused when
MC was living with his mother in Alabama.2 For the following reasons, we disagree with
Wiseman’s sufficiency challenge and conclude that there was substantial evidence to support
the jury’s verdict.
This court has noted that a criminal defendant’s intent or state of mind is seldom
apparent. Benton v. State, 2020 Ark. App. 223, 599 S.W.3d 353. One’s intent or purpose,
being a state of mind, can seldom be positively known to others, so it ordinarily cannot be
shown by direct evidence but may be inferred from the facts and circumstances. Id. Because
intent cannot be proved by direct evidence, the fact-finder is allowed to draw on common
knowledge and experience to infer it from the circumstances. Id. Because of the difficulty
in ascertaining a defendant’s intent or state of mind, a presumption exists that a person
intends the natural and probable consequences of his or her acts. Id. Additionally, the
supreme court has held that circumstantial evidence supports a conviction if it is consistent
with the defendant’s guilt and inconsistent with any other reasonable conclusion and that
this determination is a question of fact for the fact-finder. Baughman v. State, 353 Ark. 1,
110 S.W.3d 740 (2003).
2 Chasity testified that Wiseman took custody of MC from MC’s mother in Alabama in August 2021, which was about three months prior to MC’s death.
8 Pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-202(2)(B), a person acts knowingly with respect to
a result of the person’s conduct when he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct
will cause the result. On the record, we hold that there was circumstantial evidence from
which the jury could conclude, beyond speculation and conjecture, that Wiseman knowingly
caused MC’s death.
The evidence showed that Wiseman beat MC, who was just three years and two
months old, for a period of thirty minutes until MC lost consciousness, became
unresponsive, and died later that day. By Wiseman’s admission in his custodial interviews,
he administered the beating on MC with a belt, a wooden spoon, and an electrical cord.
Although denying it in the first interview, in the second interview Wiseman admitted that
he had also struck MC with his hand four times on his head. According to Wiseman’s
girlfriend, Wiseman had beaten MC in a similar manner, although not as severely, a week
prior and on other occasions before that. On this occasion, Wiseman’s girlfriend left the
room due to the severity of the beating and the fact that Wiseman had pinned MC face
down on the floor while MC pleaded with his father to stop hitting him. Wiseman, however,
continued to beat MC to the point of unconsciousness and, ultimately, death.
Dr. Kokes testified that MC had suffered numerous internal and external injuries
throughout almost all of his body and that MC’s internal injuries included blunt-force
trauma consistent with the use of a hand that crushed his internal organs into his spine,
lacerated his liver, and caused internal bleeding. Dr. Kokes also documented hemorrhaging
around MC’s brain. Based on his examination of MC and the severity of MC’s injuries, Dr.
9 Kokes stated that there was no doubt these injuries were the result of deliberate infliction
and were completely inconsistent with any reasonable accidental scenario. Dr. Kokes
ultimately determined that MC died from multiple blunt-force injuries and that the manner
of death was a homicide.
This evidence was sufficient to demonstrate that Wiseman knew his conduct was of
a deadly nature, and he was aware that it was practically certain that repeated blunt-force
trauma to a three-year-old child’s head and torso would result in death. See Dulle v. State,
2019 Ark. App. 378, 582 S.W.3d 28 (stating that a person acts knowingly with respect to the
result when he strikes and shakes a child to death); Stegall v. State, 340 Ark. 184, 8 S.W.3d
538 (2000) (holding that appellant acted knowingly based on medical evidence of brain
bleeding, bleeding in the eyes, fractures, and older injuries of the child that could not be
caused by accidental trauma but were caused by shaking and slamming the child). Because
we hold that substantial evidence supports the jury’s finding that Wiseman knowingly caused
MC’s death, Wiseman’s conviction for first-degree murder is affirmed.
Affirmed.
WOOD and BROWN, JJ., agree.
Matt Kezhaya and Sonia Kezhaya, for appellant.
Tim Griffin, Att’y Gen., by: Kent G. Holt, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.