Fritts v. State

2013 Ark. 505, 431 S.W.3d 227, 2013 WL 6504743, 2013 Ark. LEXIS 603
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 12, 2013
DocketCR-12-933
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 2013 Ark. 505 (Fritts 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
Fritts v. State, 2013 Ark. 505, 431 S.W.3d 227, 2013 WL 6504743, 2013 Ark. LEXIS 603 (Ark. 2013).

Opinion

DONALD L. CORBIN, Justice.

| ¶Appellant Brandon Clark Fritts appeals the order of the Sebastian County Circuit Court convicting him of first-degree murder and sentencing him, as a habitual offender, to life imprisonment. Appellant’s sole argument on appeal is that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to suppress an incriminating statement that he made after invoking his right to remain silent. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 1-2(a)(2) (2013). We find no error and affirm.

Because Appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him, a brief recitation of the facts is all that is necessary. The record reflects that on January 3, 2012, a person called the Fort Smith Police Department to report seeing a dead body in an alley near South 17th and Q streets. Police responded and discovered the body of Jamie Lee Czeck, | ¿who had been shot multiple times. Police also discovered the victim’s cell phone and several 9 mm shell casings in the immediate area of the body.

During the course of the investigation, police questioned Appellant as a possible witness because he was one of the last people seen with Czeck. This interview occurred on January 5, 2012, and Appellant denied knowing anything about the death of the victim and stated that the last time he saw him, Czeck was alive and well. Later that same day, police again questioned Appellant after cell-phone records obtained by authorities contradicted statements made by Appellant.

As the investigation continued, authorities developed Appellant as a suspect. At that time, Appellant and his girlfriend, Charitie Clawson, were being held in the Sequoyah County jail in Oklahoma on drug charges. Officers from the Fort Smith Police Department traveled to Oklahoma to interview Clawson and Appellant. Clawson led police to the murder weapon and made statements implicating Appellant. During a subsequent interview with Fort Smith detectives, Appellant admitted that he shot Czeck but denied that it had anything to do with the Aryan Circle. According to the affidavit for warrant of arrest completed by Fort Smith Police Detective Jeff Carter, Appellant stated that Czeck “would not shut up and would not stay where he was supposed to stay.” Appellant admitted that he shot Czeck one time in the face, several times in the chest, and one last time in the back of the head “for good measure.”

Fort Smith police subsequently issued a warrant for Appellant’s arrest, and Appellant was returned to Arkansas. During his transport from Sequoyah County to Fort Smith, |sAppellant began talking to the officers about the murder and denied that it had anything to do with the Aryan Circle and insisted that it was just a personal matter. During a subsequent formal interview at the Fort Smith Police Department, Appellant, after being advised of his Miranda, rights, again confessed to the murder.

Appellant was charged by felony information with one count of murder in the first degree in violation of Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-10-102 and being a habitual offender in violation of Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-4-501. The State subsequently filed an amended information to include one count of felon in possession of a firearm in violation of Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-73-103. Prior to trial, Appellant filed three separate motions to suppress, seeking to suppress statements he made to officers on January 30 and February 2, as well as suppression of evidence related to the location of his phone, and his subsequent statements, which he argued were fruit of the poisonous tree.

A suppression hearing was held on June 5, 2012. Officer Eric Helms, an investigator with the Sequoyah County Sheriffs Department, testified that officers with his department obtained a consent to search the home of Michael Weatherton, Appellant’s father, after Fort Smith investigators learned from Charitie Clawson that Appellant had hidden a gun at his father’s house. The officers went to the residence of Mike Weatherton on January 30, 2012, and obtained his consent to search the premises. As a result of this search, officers found a black gun box that contained a Clock 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, two Clock 9 mm magazines, and one speed loader. The gun box and its contents were located in the garage under an upright freezer.

^Detective Carter testified about his work on the homicide of Jamie Czeck. He stated that early in the investigation he learned that Appellant was one of the last people seen with the victim before his death. Detective Carter stated that he initially interviewed Appellant as a witness to the murder but subsequently developed him as a suspect. Detective Carter traveled to Sallisaw, Oklahoma, after learning that Appellant and Clawson were being held in the Sequoyah County jail. According to Detective Carter, he spoke with Clawson first and she stated that Appellant was angry with Czeck because Czeck was going to “lay down his patch and ride with the Hell’s Angels.” Clawson also told the officers that she knew Appellant was going to kill Czeck and that she was with Appellant when he went to his father’s house in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, and hid the murder weapon under a freezer in the garage.

After officers located the gun, Detective Carter returned to the jail to talk with Appellant. Carter stated that he told Appellant that he knew the truth and wanted his side of the story. Appellant responded that he had told Detective Carter all he knew on January the 5th. According to Detective Carter, he did not end the interview at this point because Appellant stated that he would answer Carter’s questions. Detective Carter then told Appellant that they had recovered the murder weapon and showed the gun to him. In response, Appellant stated that if Carter would let him have a cigarette, he would talk to him.

After allowing Appellant to smoke a cigarette, Detective Carter advised Appellant of his Miranda rights and began taping his interview of Appellant. At the beginning of the tape-recorded interview, Appellant stated that he had said everything he was going to say but that |fihe would answer the officers’ questions. Appellant initially denied any involvement in Czeck’s murder but ultimately confessed to the crime.

Detective Kyle Story of the Fort Smith Police Department testified that he and Detective Adam Creek traveled to the Se-quoyah County jail on February 2, 2012, to pick up Appellant after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the Czeck murder. Detective Story stated that he did not read Appellant his Miranda rights until they returned to Fort Smith, but denied questioning him about the crime. According to Detective Story, during the drive back to Fort Smith, he asked Appellant about a letter that involved the Aryan Circle and also asked Appellant if he and the victim were involved in the Aryan Circle. Detective Story commented that it sounded like Appellant was taking care of business for the Aryan Circle, to which Appellant replied he did not want to talk anymore. Upon returning to Fort Smith, Detectives Story and Creek Mirandized Appellant, who stated that he understood his rights and agreed to talk to the officers.

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Bluebook (online)
2013 Ark. 505, 431 S.W.3d 227, 2013 WL 6504743, 2013 Ark. LEXIS 603, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fritts-v-state-ark-2013.