Fincham v. State

2013 Ark. 204, 427 S.W.3d 643, 2013 WL 2126833, 2013 Ark. LEXIS 239
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 16, 2013
DocketNo. CR 12-638
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 2013 Ark. 204 (Fincham 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
Fincham v. State, 2013 Ark. 204, 427 S.W.3d 643, 2013 WL 2126833, 2013 Ark. LEXIS 239 (Ark. 2013).

Opinions

CLIFF HOOFMAN, Justice.

| tA Pulaski County jury found appellant Sean Fincham guilty of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of his grandfather, Dennie Gregory. Because he was sentenced to life imprisonment, our jurisdiction is pursuant to Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 1-2(a)(2) (2012). For his sole argument on appeal, Fincham asserts that the circuit court erred in refusing his proffered alternative instruction to AMI Crim.2d 301, which he maintains would have allowed the jury to consider the lesser charge of extreme-emotional-disturbance manslaughter without first “acquitting” him of murder. We find merit in Fincham’s argument and reverse and remand.

The relevant facts are these. Prior to submission of the case to the jury, the parties and the court took up jury instructions. It was agreed that the jury would be instructed on the charged offense of first-degree murder, as well as the lesser offenses of second-degree murder and extreme-emotional-disturbance manslaughter. The State submitted the standard AMI | ¡)Crim.2d 301 instruction (hereinafter referred to as “AMCI 301”), the introductory instruction on lesser-included offenses, which reads as follows:

Sean Fincham is charged with Murder in the First Degree. This charge includes the lesser offenses of Murder in the Second Degree and Manslaughter. You may find the defendant guilty of one of these offenses or you may acquit him outright.
If you have a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the defendant on the greater offense, you may find him guilty only of the lesser offense. If you have a reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s guilt of all offenses, you must find him not guilty.

Fincham’s defense counsel proffered an alternative instruction for AMCI 301 and asserted that it was error for the circuit court to give the standard instruction because it would require the jury to “acquit” Fincham of first-degree and second-degree murder prior to considering whether Finc-ham was guilty of manslaughter. He argued that because extreme-emotional-disturbance manslaughter required a finding that the defendant had committed a murder, the jury would never consider the offense of manslaughter if it was instructed to move to manslaughter only if it found reasonable doubt on the greater offense. The instruction proffered by Fincham eliminated the second paragraph of the standard instruction.

The jury in this case was also given transitional instructions between each offense that stated, “If you have reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt on the charge of Murder in the First Degree, you will then consider the charge of Murder in the Second Degree” and “[i]f you have reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt on the charge of Murder in the Second Degree, you will then consider the charge of Manslaughter.” AMI Crim.2d 302 (hereinafter referred to as “AMCI 802”).

Thereafter, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on both first-degree murder and abuse |3of a corpse. The sentencing order was entered on March 19, 2012, and Finc-ham filed a timely notice of appeal.

On appeal, Fincham argues that the circuit court should have granted his request for the jury to be instructed with his proffered instruction because the standard instruction did not accurately state the law. Specifically, Fincham claims that the “acquit first” jury instructions for lesser-included offenses prohibited the jury from considering whether he was guilty of manslaughter if they found him guilty of having committed either first-degree or second-degree murder. Fincham maintains that because extreme-emotional-disturbance manslaughter is not a true lesser-included offense of murder — rather, the jury must find guilt as to murder to find a defendant guilty of manslaughter — the way the jury was instructed in this case prevented it from properly considering manslaughter.

In response, the State contends that Fincham failed to preserve his argument on appeal because defense counsel objected and made a proffer only as to AMCI 301 and failed to object or proffer as to the transitional instructions in AMCI 302. Alternatively, the State argues that this court should reject Fincham’s argument on the merits because the instructions as given did not prevent the jury from considering all of the law and all of the facts presented. Specifically, the State cites Blueford v. Arkansas, — U.S.—, 132 S.Ct. 2044, 182 L.Ed.2d 937 (2012), for the proposition that a jury may reconsider a greater offense even after considering a lesser offense and that neither AMCI 301 nor AMCI 302 requires the jury to acquit a defendant before considering a lesser. The State also argues that Fincham’s defense counsel explained to the jury during closing argument that it could consider manslaughter. Finally, the State maintains that |4if this court finds merit to Fincham’s contention, any error was harmless because the facts of this case did not support a rational basis for giving the manslaughter instruction.

Turning first to the issue of preservation, it is true that an appellant is bound by the scope and nature of his arguments made at trial. See Stewart v. State, 2012 Ark. 349, 423 S.W.3d 69. This court has repeatedly stated that it is the appellant’s duty to present to this court a record sufficient to show that the circuit judge erred below. See, e.g., Stevenson v. State, 375 Ark. 318, 290 S.W.3d 5 (2008). To preserve an objection to the circuit court’s failure to give an instruction, the appellant must make a proffer of the proposed instruction to the judge. Stewart v. State, 316 Ark. 153, 870 S.W.2d 752 (1994). That proffered instruction must then be included in the record to enable the appellate court to consider it. Id.

Although the State is correct that Finc-ham failed to make a specific objection below to AMCI 302, we are satisfied that he did properly preserve his argument as it relates to AMCI 301. It is clear from the record that the circuit court was fully apprised of the argument Fincham makes on appeal — that instructing the jury pursuant to the standard introductory instruction on lesser-included offenses provided by AMCI 301 would prohibit the jury from considering manslaughter unless it were to find that there was reasonable doubt on the greater offense of first-degree murder — and that the circuit court rejected that argument. Moreover, Fincham proffered an alternative instruction for AMCI 301, and that proffer is part of the record on appeal. Therefore, we consider the merits of his contention.1

IfiOur case law is clear that a party is entitled to a jury instruction when it is a correct statement of law and when there is some basis in the evidence to support giving the instruction. Wilson v. State, 364 Ark. 550, 222 S.W.3d 171 (2006). Moreover, a trial court is required to give a jury instruction if there is some evidence to support it. Id. A trial court should not use a non-model instruction unless it finds that the model instruction does not accurately reflect the law. Id. In determining if the circuit court erred in refusing an instruction in a criminal trial, the test is whether the omission infects the entire trial such that the resulting conviction violates due process. Gilcrease v. State, 2009 Ark.

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Bluebook (online)
2013 Ark. 204, 427 S.W.3d 643, 2013 WL 2126833, 2013 Ark. LEXIS 239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fincham-v-state-ark-2013.