King v. State

206 S.W.3d 883, 361 Ark. 402, 2005 Ark. LEXIS 231
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 14, 2005
DocketCR 04-1023
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 206 S.W.3d 883 (King 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
King v. State, 206 S.W.3d 883, 361 Ark. 402, 2005 Ark. LEXIS 231 (Ark. 2005).

Opinion

R obert L. Brown, Justice.

Appellant Raymond King appeals from both the circuit court’s judgment of conviction for theft of property and his sentence to thirty years in prison as well as an order that denied King’s petition for post-conviction relief. We affirm.

The pertinent facts are these. Raymond King was a fifty-three-year-old black male at the time of the offense who spent some nights with his family in Turrell and some nights in Memphis, Tennessee. He was employed to work on vehicles in Memphis. Mike Crosthwait and his wife live in Marion and owned a red 1991 GMC Jimmy. Their son Steven Crosthwait lived in West Memphis and used the vehicle.

On June 18, 2003, at 1:42 a.m., King was stopped by Sergeant Ronnie Noe, who was with the Southaven Police Department in Southaven, Mississippi. King was driving a red 1991 GMC Jimmy. Before he was stopped, Sergeant Noe “ran the tag on the car” and found that it was registered to an Arkansas resident. After following King for a period of time, Sergeant Noe activated his blue lights, pulled King over, and initiated a traffic stop in a parking lot in Southaven. Sergeant Noe next approached the vehicle and noticed that an identification card from Southland Greyhound Park that featured a photograph of a young, white male was hanging from the vehicle’s rearview mirror. Sergeant Noe also noted that the vehicle’s steering column was broken and that a screwdriver was lying at King’s feet on the floorboard. He assumed that the screwdriver had been used to start the vehicle.

After asking King whether he owned the vehicle, King responded that he did not but that he was employed at a mechanic shop in Memphis, Tennessee, and was test-driving the car. After being advised of his Miranda rights, King told Sergeant Noe that he obtained the vehicle in West Memphis. Sergeant Noe then discovered that King’s Arkansas driver’s license was suspended or revoked, so he took King into custody in accordance with Southaven Police Department policy. Sergeant Noe contacted Mike Crosthwait, who was shown as the owner of the vehicle and who said his son had physical custody of it.

At about 2:00 a.m. that same morning, Patrolmanjohn Scola of the Marion Police Department was dispatched to the home of Mike Crosthwait. Mr. Crosthwait informed the police officer that he owned the vehicle but that his son Steven had it in West Memphis. After Officer Scola told Mike Crosthwait that his car had been “picked up” in Southaven, Mr. Crosthwait drove to Steven Crosthwait’s apartment to see whether it indeed had been stolen. After discovering that the car was missing, Mike Crosthwait telephoned Officer Scola to confirm that the vehicle was stolen and then filed a report with the West Memphis Police Department. When the police officers in Southaven, Mississippi, were told that the GMC Jimmy had been stolen, King was arrested for illegally “taking” the vehicle. On July 23, 2003, King was transferred to Arkansas, where he was arrested and charged with theft of property. Later, he was charged as a habitual offender.

On April 21 and 22, 2004, King was tried by a jury in Crittenden County. The jury found King guilty of theft of property, which it valued at more than $500 but less than $2500, and sentenced him to thirty years in prison as a habitual offender. A judgment and conviction order was later entered.

On May 10, 2004, King’s counsel filed a petition for post-conviction relief pursuant to Rule 37.1 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure and asserted that the circuit court had lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to hear the matter, because no evidence was presented at trial that placed the GMC Jimmy in King’s possession while in the State of Arkansas. On May 21, 2004, King filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief in which he argued that his counsel was ineffective for failing to object and protect his rights at trial, for failing to communicate with him and inform him of any plea or case elements, and for failing to object to the State’s proof that King was in Arkansas at the time the vehicle was stolen.

On June 7, 2004, the circuit court entered its order denying the May 10, 2004 petition for post-conviction relief, because evidence presented at trial showed that King acquired the vehicle in Arkansas, that it was stolen in Arkansas, and that jurisdiction was presumed because some elements of the charged offense occurred in Arkansas. On June 7, 2004, the circuit court entered its order denying the May 21, 2004 pro se petition for post-conviction relief, because Kang’s appointed counsel was still representing him at the court’s direction, counsel had subpoenaed King’s suggested witness, and counsel appropriately objected during trial and made proper motions for acquittal.

On June 23, 2004, King filed his notice of appeal from the judgment and conviction order and from the “Trial Court’s denial of his Motion for Post-Conviction Relief.” 1 On September 20, 2004, the record was tendered to the Clerk’s office. On September 29, 2004, King’s counsel filed a motion to file a belated appeal, which this court granted. See King v. State, 359 Ark. 274, 196 S.W.3d 486 (2004) (per curiam).

King first contends in his appeal that the circuit court abused its discretion in denying his motion for mistrial at trial, which was based on Sergeant Pierce’s reference to King’s “Offender ID.” The State responds that this issue is procedurally barred. We agree.

A mistrial is an extreme and drastic remedy that will be resorted to only when there has been an error so prejudicial that justice cannot be served by continuing with the trial or when the fundamental fairness of the trial has been manifestly affected. See Moore v. State, 355 Ark. 657, 144 S.W.3d 260 (2004). The circuit court has wide discretion in granting or denying a mistrial motion, and, absent an abuse of that discretion, the circuit court’s decision will not be disturbed on appeal. See id. Among the factors this court considers on appeal in determining whether or not a circuit court abused its discretion in refusing to declare a mistrial are whether the prosecutor deliberately induced a prejudicial response and whether an admonition to the jury could have cured any resulting prejudice. See id.

The relevant colloquy at trial is as follows:

[State]: My question, my concern, I’m getting ready to put the detective on out of Southaven.
[Court]: Pierce?
[State]: Yes, Your Honor.
And he has a copy of the identification card that was taken from the Defendant on the night that’s got his picture, also a date of birth but there’s some stuff on that that —
[Court]: Show it to Miss Korsnes [defense counsel].
[Defense] : I’ve seen it, Your Honor, and I’m objecting to the introduction.
[Court]: Well, the document before The Court, for the record, says Offender ID, State of Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole. Field Service, Raymond King.

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Bluebook (online)
206 S.W.3d 883, 361 Ark. 402, 2005 Ark. LEXIS 231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/king-v-state-ark-2005.