Henderson v. State

835 S.W.2d 865, 310 Ark. 287, 1992 Ark. LEXIS 482
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJuly 13, 1992
DocketCR 92-167
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 835 S.W.2d 865 (Henderson 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
Henderson v. State, 835 S.W.2d 865, 310 Ark. 287, 1992 Ark. LEXIS 482 (Ark. 1992).

Opinion

Robert L. Brown, Justice.

This appeal comes from a conviction for rape and a life sentence as a habitual offender meted out by the circuit court after the jury deadlocked during the penalty phase. The appellant, David Shayne Henderson, appeals on the basis that 1) the circuit court denied him a continuance when two key witnesses — his father and brother-in-law — were not available for trial, and 2) the court improperly sentenced him when the jury deadlocked. Neither argument merits a reversal, and we affirm the conviction and sentence.

The facts as related at trial by Henderson and the victim at trial are irreconcilable. The victim, a resident of North Little Rock, testified that she went to the Nightlife Club in Little Rock on Asher Avenue at 1:00 or 1:30 a.m. on October 28, 1990. She visited with friends and the doorman and had at least two alcoholic drinks over the next few hours. The victim saw Henderson at the club whom she had known in the past as a neighbor in a trailer park in Little Rock where she lived previously with a boyfriend. She talked with Henderson at the club, and when it came time for her to leave several hours later, he followed her outside and asked for a ride home to his residence near Geyer Springs. She obliged, but after they began the drive, he changed his mind and directed her to take him to a friend’s house off of Colonel Glenn Road. En route, he asked her to stop so that he could go to the bathroom. After doing so, he got back in the car and tried to kiss and fondle her. The victim resisted, and he pulled her by the back of the hair and threatened her with a knife at her throat. He then demanded that she undress and perform oral sex on him. She begged him to stop, and he hit her in the face several times with the back of his hand.

The victim complied with Henderson’s demands, and while she was doing so, Henderson penetrated her vagina and anus with his fingers. He then pulled out a knife and forced the handle into her vagina, and when she refused to do it herself, he beat her in the face again and forced the knife handle into her anus. Henderson assumed the driver’s seat, told the victim to get dressed, and drove the car to Hot Springs, where, according to the victim, they visited with one of his family members, either his mother or sister. She did not tell that person what had happened to her. They drove into a wooded area next, and Henderson forced her to have sex and penetrated her both vaginally and anally with his penis. She was bleeding at that point from her anus, and the appellant stopped the assault after blood got on his shirt.

Henderson next traveled to a McDonald’s restaurant in Hot Springs to get food. At the drive-through, the victim tried to escape, but Henderson grabbed her and left the restaurant at a high rate of speed with the victim screaming. They drove into a surrounding wooded area and there Henderson forced her to have sex again. After this final episode, Henderson took the victim to his father’s trailer, which was in the vicinity. He first talked to his father and then told the victim to come inside. After entering the trailer, she went to the bathroom and put on makeup to cover her facial bruises. She did not tell Henderson’s father that she was in trouble or that she had been raped by his son.

The victim then went outside and met the appellant’s brother-in-law, Billy Joe Harvey, and his sister, Sherri Dawn Harvey, who lived in a trailer behind Henderson’s father. The victim and Sherri went to Sherri’s trailer, and the victim washed herself while Sherri washed her jeans. At that time, the victim says she told Sherri about the rapes, though Sherri denied this at trial. Sherri gave her a knife to protect herself and said that she would call to make sure she got home safely. Henderson, meanwhile, washed the front seat of the victim’s car which was stained with blood.

Henderson next took the car to Prescott and visited with his great uncle, Fred Ridling, Jr., for about ten minutes. Ridling testified at trial that he did not see anything unusual, and he assumed the passenger in the car was female. No complaints were made to him by the passenger.

Henderson and the victim then drove back to Little Rock and arrived about 2:30 in the afternoon. The victim promised not to tell what had happened and went to her room at home and rested. When her mother came home, she told her what had happened, and they went to the hospital, where the bruises on her face and lips and chin were treated. The treating physician also found bruises around the vagina and non-motile sperm in the vagina and dried blood in the anus.

Henderson admitted only to consensual sex with the victim and to the traveling. He testified at trial that he had had sex with the victim five times previous to the night in question and that she consented to all sexual activity on that particular night. He said that they did fight after the sex and that is how she became bruised. He also said that they had taken drugs that night, including crystal methamphetamine, and that the victim on occasion had acted “crazy.” He admitted to four prior felonies. His sister, Sherri, confirmed his rendition of the facts at trial.

Before trial commenced on October 1, 1991, Henderson’s attorney advised the circuit court that Henderson’s father and brother-in-law had been arrested in Kansas for marijuana possession and were not available for trial. He asked for a continuance, which the court denied on the basis that he had no assurances that the two men would be available for a later trial setting. It was brought out that the trial had already been continued once at Henderson’s request due to an ill witness. During the trial, the circuit court told the appellant’s attorney that it was permissible for him to advise the jury that Henderson’s father was not available for trial. The attorney did not do so. The circuit court concluded, after hearing the victim’s testimony, that there was nothing to indicate that the absent witnesses would contradict the victim since she admitted that she did not tell them that she had been raped and that she had tried to cover her bruises with makeup.

The jury found Henderson guilty of rape but did not assess a penalty. The jurors reconvened twice before the court, and the court advised them to do their best to reach a verdict. Ultimately, they were unable to decide on a penalty, and the court dismissed them after being informed that the jury had been debating a sentence of between forty and sixty years.

On October 3, 1991, the circuit court held a sentencing hearing. Both the state’s attorney and the defense attorney agreed that the court could sentence, although the defense attorney asked the court to adhere to the jury’s range and assess punishment between forty and sixty years. The circuit court then sentenced Henderson to life imprisonment.

I. CONTINUANCE

For his first point, Henderson challenges the court’s ruling denying him a continuance because of the absence of his father and brother-in-law, who, he claimed, would be pivotal defense witnesses. Henderson did not provide an affidavit of materiality, but he did make the following proffer to the court at the conclusion of all testimony when he renewed his motion:

Billy Joe Harvey is Sherri Harvey [’s], who did testify, husband. Mr. Harvey could testify and would testify I think even from Ms.

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Bluebook (online)
835 S.W.2d 865, 310 Ark. 287, 1992 Ark. LEXIS 482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henderson-v-state-ark-1992.