Halliday v. State

386 S.W.3d 51, 2011 Ark. App. 544, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 587
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 21, 2011
DocketNo. CA CR 11-269
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 386 S.W.3d 51 (Halliday v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Halliday v. State, 386 S.W.3d 51, 2011 Ark. App. 544, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 587 (Ark. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Judge.

_JjOn August 13, 2010, a Marion County jury convicted appellant Charles Halliday of sexual assault in the first degree and sexual indecency with a child, for which he was sentenced to twelve years’ and three years’ imprisonment, respectively, to be served consecutively in the Arkansas Department of Correction. On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his two convictions. He also claims that the circuit court erred by submitting a jury instruction on sexual indecency with a child because it was not a lesser-included offense of sexual assault in the first degree. We affirm.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

A. Standard of Review

A motion for a directed verdict is treated as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Estrada v. State, 2011 Ark. 3, 376 S.W.3d 395. The test for such motions is whether lathe verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Id. Substantial evidence is evidence of sufficient certainty and precision to compel a conclusion one way or another and pass beyond mere suspicion or conjecture. Id. On appeal, appellate courts review the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Id.

A sexual-assault victim’s testimony may constitute substantial evidence to sustain a conviction for sexual assault. Brown v. State, 374 Ark. 341, 288 S.W.3d 226 (2008). The victim’s testimony need not be corroborated, and the victim’s testimony alone, describing the sexual contact, is enough for a conviction. See Colburn v. State, 2010 Ark. App. 587, 2010 WL 3582441. The credibility of witnesses is a matter for the jury’s consideration. Tryon v. State, 371 Ark. 25, 263 S.W.3d 475 (2007). Where the testimony is conflicting, we do not pass upon the credibility of the witnesses and have no right to disregard the testimony of any witness after the jury has given it full credence, where it cannot be said with assurance that it was inherently improbable, physically impossible, or so clearly unbelievable that reasonable minds could not differ thereon. Davenport v. State, 373 Ark. 71, 281 S.W.3d 268 (2008). Furthermore, the jury need not believe the defendant’s own self-serving testimony, and it is free to believe all or part of a victim’s testimony as it sees fit. See Chavez v. State, 2010 Ark. App. 161, 2010 WL 546445.

B. Sexual Assault in the First Degree

To be guilty of sexual assault in the first degree under Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-14-124 (Repl.2006), appellant must have engaged in sexual relations with a person Uunder eighteen years of age, and appellant must have been a temporary caretaker, or in a position of trust or authority over the victim. Appellant does not dispute that there is sufficient evidence to support that he engaged in sexual relations with a person under eighteen years of age; however, he does dispute that he was a person in a position of trust or authority over, or a temporary caretaker of, the victim.

1. Position of Trust or Authority Over The Victim

Arkansas courts have had opportunities to define the phrase “position of trust or authority over the victim” and have consistently declined to do so, instead finding that case-specific facts are included in the definition. See May v. State, 94 Ark. App. 202, 228 S.W.3d 517 (2006); Murphy v. State, 83 Ark. App. 72, 117 S.W.3d 627 (2003). Appellant argues that there was never any testimony that he was under any obligation or responsibility with regard to the victim or that any authority was conferred upon him. Similarly, with regard to “position of authority,” appellant claims that there was no testimony that he had any right or ability to control or command the victim. To the contrary, testimony by rodeo-arena owner Mr. Rand was that appellant did not have any authority over the victim. Without such evidence, appellant maintains that the jury merely speculated that he had power or control because of his age in relation to the victim. He claims that to allow the jury to infer control based on age is to render section 5-14-124(a)(l)-(3) unnecessary because the victim is necessarily young.

We disagree. The victim testified that she met appellant at around the age of twelve when she decided that she wanted to ride horses. She stated that he was “a figure that [she] |4would look up to ... [she] trusted him,” and that appellant was like a teacher to her. She explained that in the beginning of their relationship, appellant taught her to rodeo and trail ride but then the relationship became more of a boyfriend-girlfriend type of relationship. The victim testified that appellant initiated the sexual part of the relationship. She testified that on December 30, 2008, when she was fourteen years old, and after a day of horse training, appellant drove her to the living quarters of his business. When they arrived, she and appellant had sexual intercourse but were interrupted by appellant’s wife. The victim testified that immediately thereafter, appellant stated that he was ruined and that his wife was going to put him in prison.

Evidence indicated that later that night, the victim met and spoke with Investigator Vacco at Baxter Regional Medical Center. The victim told Investigator Vacco that she did not have sex with appellant; however, she later indicated that she had lied to protect appellant because she cared for him and did not want to see anything bad to happen to him. Testimony indicated that after this incident, the victim continued to have contact with appellant and had sex with him again sometime near the end of January or beginning of February 2009.

The victim’s father specifically testified that appellant was helping his daughter with riding and learning about the rodeo. He explained that he knew his daughter was spending time with appellant, but that he trusted appellant as the adult watching his daughter.

Appellant testified that he would pick the victim up and take her home from the horse training and that she “ran around with [him] all the time[,] went hunting with [him] and [his] |sfriends.” He acknowledged that if he took the victim to the rodeo he was responsible for taking her home.

With regard to the phrase “position of trust or authority over the victim,” this court has specifically stated:

Where a relationship raises a strong inference of trust and supervision, and where the appellant’s function in the relationship could be characterized as a minimum to be that of a chaperone, th[at] meets the statutory threshold.

May, 94 Ark. App. at 206, 228 S.W.3d at 521. In the instant case, we hold that, at a minimum, appellant was a chaperone and, thus, in a position of trust or authority over the victim. Because the jury need not have believed his own self-serving testimony, it was within the jury’s province to determine appellant’s guilt based on his position of trust or authority over the victim. See May, supra.

2.

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Bluebook (online)
386 S.W.3d 51, 2011 Ark. App. 544, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/halliday-v-state-arkctapp-2011.