Harris v. State

254 S.W.3d 789, 98 Ark. App. 264, 2007 Ark. App. LEXIS 235
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedApril 4, 2007
DocketCACR 06-812
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 254 S.W.3d 789 (Harris 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
Harris v. State, 254 S.W.3d 789, 98 Ark. App. 264, 2007 Ark. App. LEXIS 235 (Ark. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Sam Bird, Judge.

Anthony Harris appeals the revocation of his suspended sentences for possession of a controlled substance, a Class C felony, and delivery of a controlled substance, a Class Y felony. The trial court revoked his suspended sentences and sentenced him to eight years’ imprisonment for the Class C felony and fifteen years’ imprisonment for the Class Y felony, to be served concurrently. Appellant raises two points on appeal: (1) there is insufficient evidence to support the revocations; and (2) the trial court committed an error of law in concluding that appellant violated the “good conduct” requirement of his suspended sentence because the written terms and conditions of his suspended sentence did not contain such a requirement. We reverse the order revoking appellant’s suspended sentences and dismiss.

On May 10, 2005, the State filed a petition to revoke appellant’s suspended sentences. The State alleged in its petition that appellant had violated the written terms and conditions of his suspended sentences by committing the offenses of burglary, third-degree battery, first-degree criminal mischief, and third-degree domestic battery on October 9, 2004. The trial court held a hearing on the petition on August 8, 2005.

Natalie Cole, appellant’s girlfriend, testified at the hearing that she and two of her friends, Candace and Ashley Dandridge, were at her house on October 9, 2004, when appellant and Randy Daniels arrived. She said that she and appellant argued; one of the men kicked the door in; and she threw a lamp, end table, and speaker at appellant. She testified that appellant never put his hands on her but that Randy had to pull appellant away from her and her friends. She said that she was not injured.

Randy testified that he broke up a scuffle between the three women and appellant. He said that he did not see appellant go towards Natalie, but he did see Candace and Ashley try to step between them: “They were not trying to stop him though, it was more like they attacked him. He did somewhat defend himself.” He testified that he did not think any of the women were injured.

Ollie Collins, a police officer with the Osceola Police Department, lived down the street from Natalie’s house at the time of the incident. He testified that Candace came to his house that night and asked him to go to Natalie’s house. He said that when he got there tables were broken and the three women were crying and upset. The women told him that appellant had jumped on them. He also testified that he did not see any abrasions, bruises, or marks on any of the women.

At the close of the State’s evidence, appellant moved to dismiss for failure to make a prima facie case. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss, stating that “[t]he scuffling makes it domestic abuse. There doesn’t necessarily have to be injuries to be domestic abuse.” At the close of all of the evidence, the trial court found that there was not a breaking or entering or a theft of property. The court noted that it was not certain whether domestic abuse required physical injury 1 but said that “he’s clearly guilty of being involved in malicious mischief and a fray, which is in violation of the terms and conditions of good conduct.” The court then stated that it was “going to find that he violated the terms and conditions of good conduct” and continued the case for six months for sentencing.

On September 28, 2005, after the hearing on the petition to revoke, the State filed an amended petition to revoke, alleging additional violations of the written terms and conditions of probation: delivery of a controlled substance on or about September 8, 2005, and September 16, 2005. Although the court entered an order of probable cause and ordered appellant to appear on October 7, 2005, for a hearing on the new claims in the amended petition to revoke, there is nothing in the record to indicate that such a hearing ever occurred.

On March 29, 2006, the trial court held a sentencing hearing to impose sentences for the violations found by the court at the August 8, 2005, revocation hearing. All of the testimony at the sentencing hearing concerned the drug deliveries added as violations in the amended petition to revoke. At the close of the hearing, the trial court said that it had already found appellant in violation of the conditions of his suspended sentences and that the testimony presented at the sentencing hearing merely confirmed its previous finding that appellant “violated the terms and conditions of good conduct.” After appellant’s attorney suggested that the court should look to the previous violations from the prior hearing rather than to the new drug charges, the court recalled its findings at the revocation hearing as follows:

I don’t remember my exact words now, but what I basically said if I found him in violation of the allegations that were made by the prosecutor on the revocation petition, that it didn’t particularly matter whether there was an assault or battery, that he was in violation of good conduct. But I specifically found that he violated good conduct by committing battery on his wife, and now the only question is what is an appropriate sentence.

On March 29, 2006, the trial court entered a judgment and commitment order sentencing appellant to eight years’ imprisonment for possession of a controlled substance, a Class C felony, and fifteen years’ imprisonment for delivery of a controlled substance, a Class Y felony, to be served concurrently.

Appellant’s first point on appeal is that there was insufficient evidence to support the revocations. In order to revoke probation or a suspension, the trial court must find by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant inexcusably violated a condition of that probation or suspension. Peterson v. State, 81 Ark. App. 226, 100 S.W.3d 66 (2003). The State bears the burden of proof but need only prove that the defendant committed one violation of the conditions. Richardson v. State, 85 Ark. App. 347, 157 S.W.3d 536 (2004). We do not reverse a trial court’s findings on appeal unless they are clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Sisk v. State, 81 Ark. App. 276, 101 S.W.3d 248 (2003).

In its revocation petition the State alleged that appellant had violated the written terms and conditions of his suspended sentence by committing the offenses of burglary, third-degree battery, first-degree criminal mischief, and third-degree domestic battery. At the hearing on the petition, the trial court found that there was not a breaking and entering or a theft of property, but that appellant was “clearly guilty of being involved in malicious mischief and a fray, which is in violation of the terms and conditions of good conduct.” The court then stated, “I’m going to find that he violated the terms and conditions of good conduct.” Appellant argues that none of the court’s findings constitutes a finding that he violated one of the conditions of his suspended sentences.

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Bluebook (online)
254 S.W.3d 789, 98 Ark. App. 264, 2007 Ark. App. LEXIS 235, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-state-arkctapp-2007.