Gillie v. State

808 S.W.2d 320, 305 Ark. 296, 1991 Ark. LEXIS 236
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 29, 1991
DocketCR 90-259
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 808 S.W.2d 320 (Gillie 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
Gillie v. State, 808 S.W.2d 320, 305 Ark. 296, 1991 Ark. LEXIS 236 (Ark. 1991).

Opinions

Jack Holt, Jr., Chief Justice.

On March 28, 1990, the appellant, Clarence Gillie, was convicted of capital murder and aggravated robbery and sentenced as an habitual offender, respectively, to life without parole and 50 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction, the terms to be served consecutively.

Gillie asserts ten points of error on appeal, none of which have merit, and we affirm.

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

We will initially address Gillie’s point of error alleging that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction for capital murder.

The underlying felony for Gillie’s conviction of capital murder was robbery. Arkansas Code Ann. § 5-10-101 (a)(1) (Supp. 1989) addressed the offense and provides in pertinent part as follows:

(a) A person commits capital murder if:
(1) Acting alone or with one (1) or more other persons, he commits or attempts to commit. . .robbery. . .and in the course of and in furtherance of the felony, or in immediate flight therefrom, he or an accomplice causes the death of any person under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life; . . .

Gillie contends that there is no independent proof to indicate the underlying offense of robbery without resulting to speculation and conjecture.

To the contrary, the facts in this case show that on October 29, 1987, Wayne and Clovis Rogers, brothers, returned from Southland Greyhound Park to their room at the Twentieth Century Motel in West Memphis, Arkansas. Wayne testified that, while he was undressing and watching the evening news at approximately 10:05 p.m., there was a rapping at the door. Clovis went to the door and asked, “Who was it?” Wayne heard some mumbling, and Clovis unlatched the door. At that time, the person at the door said, “Open the door,” at about the same time that he kicked in the door. Wayne saw a man at the door, and he jumped up and said, “Get out of here,” as he realized that the man was breaking in on them. Wayne headed for the door, and the man fired two shots through the door opening and hit Clovis in the abdomen. Clovis subsequently died after 30 days in the hospital. Wayne made an in-court identification of Gillie as the man who had shot his brother.

Additionally, Thomas Gallagher testified that, at approximately 11:00 p.m. on the same evening of October 29, 1987, he was robbed at gunpoint in his room at the Holiday Inn Motel in West Memphis, Arkansas, of a scuba watch and college ring by a man, who he later identified in court as Gillie, and a woman. During the course of the robbery, the motel manager and security guard were brought into Mr. Gallagher’s room, and they also identified Gillie as the robber in in-court identifications.

Further, Mr. Gallagher testified that the watch discovered upon Gillie upon his arrest was identical to the watch taken from him in the robbery. Most importantly, slugs and shell casings recovered from the first crime scene and a live round of ammunition found at the second crime scene were traced by means of expert testimony to a .45 caliber pistol that was also taken from Gillie upon his arrest in the State of Mississippi.

The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether there is substantial evidence to support the verdict. Substantial evidence must be forceful enough to compel a conclusion one way or another beyond suspicion and conjecture. On review, it is only necessary to ascertain that evidence which is most favorable to the appellee and, if there is substantial evidence to support the verdict, the finding must be affirmed. Trotter v. State, 290 Ark. 269, 719 S.W.2d 268 (1986) (citing Williams v. State, 281 Ark. 387, 663 S.W.2d 928 (1984)). Circumstantial evidence can provide the basis to support a conviction, but it must be consistent with the defendant’s guilt and inconsistent with any other reasonable conclusion. Trotter v. State, supra (citing Smith v. State, 282 Ark. 535, 669 S.W.2d 201 (1984).

The intent or purpose to commit a crime is a state of mind which is not ordinarily capable of proof by direct evidence, so it must be inferred from the circumstances. Trotter v. State, supra. Additionally, A.R.E. 404(b) provides that “[e]vidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of . . . intent, . . . plan, . . . identity. . . .”

Proof of the aggravated burglary was clearly admissible as being relevant to prove both Gillie’s intent and plan, as well as his identity, in the commission of the first incident, although we have already shown that the circumstantial evidence was amply sufficient to connect Gillie with the first incident. See Cassell v. State, 273 Ark. 59, 616 S.W.2d 485 (1981). Reference to the aggravated burglary was also allowable because it was so intertwined factually with the case before us that exclusion of any reference to it would have been confusing to the jury or would have unnecessarily hampered the State’s proof of the charged crime. Evans v. State, 287 Ark. 136, 697 S.W. 879 (1985).

Given the nature and sequence of events in this case, it is logical to infer Gillie’s intent to rob the Rogers brothers at gunpoint in their hotel room from his actual commission of aggravated robbery of Mr. Gallagher in his hotel room within an hour of the first crime. Wayne Rogers identified Gillie as the man who attempted to force his way into the hotel room in which he and his brother, Clovis, were staying and testified that Gillie was armed with a .45 caliber pistol and fatally wounded Clovis when the latter resisted Gillie’s entry; Gillie was also identified as the man who robbed Mr. Gallagher at another hotel at gunpoint within an hour of the first occurrence involving the Rogerses; and ballistics evidence connected the .45 caliber pistol found on Gillie at the time of arrest to both of the crime scenes. Entwining the facts of the two incidents, we find that there is substantial evidence to support the verdict.

SPEEDY TRIAL

Gillie also argues that he was denied a speedy trial on the basis that he was not brought to trial within the twelve-month period provided by Ark. R. Crim. P. 28.1(c), as follows:

Any defendant charged after October 1, 1987, in circuit court and held to bail, or otherwise lawfully set at liberty, . . . shall be entitled to have the charge dismissed with an absolute bar to prosecution if not brought to trial within twelve (12) months from the time provided in Rule 28.2, excluding only such periods of necessary delay as are authorized in Rule 28.3.

Arkansas R. Crim. P. 28.2 addresses when time commences to run and provides in pertinent part as follows:

The time for trial shall commence running, without demand by the defendant, from the following dates:

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Bluebook (online)
808 S.W.2d 320, 305 Ark. 296, 1991 Ark. LEXIS 236, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gillie-v-state-ark-1991.