Law v. State

292 S.W.3d 277, 375 Ark. 505, 2009 Ark. LEXIS 305
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 5, 2009
DocketCR 08-231
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 292 S.W.3d 277 (Law 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
Law v. State, 292 S.W.3d 277, 375 Ark. 505, 2009 Ark. LEXIS 305 (Ark. 2009).

Opinion

ELANA CUNNINGHAM WILLS, Justice.

On March 14, 2005, emergency medical personnel were called to a residence at 4701 Elmwood in Little Rock. Once there, the emergency workers found eighty-six-year-old Geneva Law, covered in bruises and bedsores, with rodent feces on the bedroom floor and ants and cockroaches crawling on the floor, on the bed, and on Geneva. Geneva died in the hospital about a month later. Her son, appellant Warren Law, and her daughter, Mary Law, were both charged on September 11, 2005, with abuse of an adult pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 5-28-103 (Repl.1997). 1

Prior to trial, Warren filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that the statute under which he was charged was unconstitutionally vague. The Pulaski County Circuit Court denied his motion, and the case proceeded to a bench trial on April 24 and 25, 2007. At that trial, the circuit court convicted Warren of abusing an adult and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment, with three years suspended. On appeal, Warren challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction and the constitutionality of the adult-abuse statute.

In his first point on appeal, Warren contends that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of abusing an adult. A motion to dismiss in a bench trial is identical to a motion for a directed verdict in a jury trial in that it is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. See Springs v. State, 368 Ark. 256, 244 S.W.3d 683 (2006). A challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence asserts that the verdict was not supported by substantial evidence. See Sales v. State, 374 Ark. 222, 289 S.W.3d 423 (2008); Flowers v. State, 373 Ark. 127, 282 S.W.3d 767 (2008). Substantial evidence is evidence of sufficient force and character that without resorting to speculation and conjecture compels with reasonable certainty a conclusion one way or the other. Sales, supra. On appeal, this court does not weigh the evidence presented at trial, as that is a matter for the fact-finder, nor do we assess the credibility of the witnesses. See Woods v. State, 363 Ark. 272, 213 S.W.3d 627 (2005). We review the evidence in a light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict, and we will affirm where the record reveals that substantial evidence sustains the verdict. See id.

As mentioned above, Warren was charged with abuse of an adult in violation of Ark.Code Ann. § 5-28-103. That statute provides that it is “unlawful for any person or caregiver to abuse, neglect, or exploit any person subject to protection under the provisions of this chapter.” Ark.Code Ann. § 5-28-103(a) (Repl.1997). Although the judgment and commitment order does not specify the particular subsection under which Warren was convicted, the order does state that he was convicted of a Class D felony, and the court commented that this was a case of “extreme neglect.” Therefore, we conclude that Warren was convicted under Ark.Code Ann. § 5 — 28—103(c)(1) (Repl.1997), which provides as follows:

(c)(1) Any person or caregiver who neglects an endangered or impaired adult in violation of the provisions of this chapter, causing serious physical injury or substantial risk of death, shall be guilty of a Class D felony and shall be punished as provided by law.

At the time of the offense, Ark.Code Ann. § 5-28-101 (Supp.2003) provided the following definitions for the relevant portions of the statute:

(3) “Caregiver” means a related or unrelated person ... that has the responsibility for the protection, care, or custody of an endangered or impaired adult as a result of assuming the responsibility voluntarily, by contract, through employment, or by order of the court;
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(5) “Endangered adult” means:
(A) An adult eighteen (18) years of age or older who is found to be in a
situation or condition which poses an imminent risk of death or serious bodily-harm to that person and who demonstrates a lack of capacity to comprehend the nature and consequences of remaining in that situation or condition;
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(8)(A) “Impaired adult” means a person eighteen (18) years of age or older who, as a result of mental or physical impairment, is unable to protect himself or herself from abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or exploitation, and as a consequence thereof is endangered;
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(10) “Neglect” means acts or omissions by an endangered adult; for example, self-neglect or intentional acts or omissions by a caregiver responsible for the care and supervision of an endangered or impaired adult constituting:
(A) Negligently failing to provide necessary treatment, rehabilitation, care, food, clothing, shelter, supervision, or medical services to an endangered or impaired adult;
(B) Negligently failing to report health problems or changes in health problems or changes in the health condition of an endangered or impaired adult to the appropriate medical personnel; or
(C) Negligently failing to carry out a prescribed treatment plan[.]

Thus, to convict Warren of abuse of an adult, the State was required to prove that: 1) Geneva was an endangered or impaired adult; 2) Warren was a caregiver responsible for her protection, care, or custody; 3) he neglected her; and 4) such neglect caused serious physical injury or risk of death. Warren does not challenge the fourth of these elements. Instead, he contends that the State failed to prove that Geneva was endangered or impaired, that he was her caregiver, and that he neglected her.

The first of these elements is whether Geneva was an endangered or impaired adult. As proof on this issue, the State’s first witness at trial, Donna Brady, introduced a report from the Adult Protective Services Division of the Department of Health and Human Services. 2 According to Brady, the report indicated that Geneva came to the attention of Adult Protective Services (APS) in April of 2001. At that time, Geneva was living with her sister in Searcy because the home in Little Rock where she had been living with her daughter had been condemned as unsanitary and unsafe. Brady testified that a relative called APS to report that the sister could no longer care for Geneva. The case worker’s report from April of 2001 indicated that Geneva was “confused to [the] point [that she] has to be cued to bathe.” The report described her as “very confused” and, although ambulatory, she was incapable of meeting her activities of daily living. The report also noted that she was “very confused and could not provide information without relying on her sister.”

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Bluebook (online)
292 S.W.3d 277, 375 Ark. 505, 2009 Ark. LEXIS 305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/law-v-state-ark-2009.