Pharo v. State

783 S.W.2d 64, 30 Ark. App. 94, 1990 Ark. App. LEXIS 43
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 24, 1990
DocketCA CR 89-6
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 783 S.W.2d 64 (Pharo 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
Pharo v. State, 783 S.W.2d 64, 30 Ark. App. 94, 1990 Ark. App. LEXIS 43 (Ark. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

Judith Rogers, Judge.

The appellant, Rodney Frances Pharo, was initially charged by information with criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree, a violation of Ark. Code Ann. §§ 5-3-201 (1987) and 5-10-102 (Supp. 1987). The appellant was found guilty by a jury of battery in the first degree, a violation of Ark. Code Ann. § 5-13-201 (Supp. 1987). From this conviction, the appellant received a ten year sentence and a $5,000 fine. On appeal, the appellant raises the following three issues for reversal: (1) that the trial court’s ruling excluding expert testimony on the physiological effects of alcohol consumption was a violation of the “due process” clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (2) that the trial court’s ruling denying a jury instruction regarding battery in the third degree was error; and (3) that the prosecutor’s comments on the appellant’s exercise of his post-Miranda right to remain silent was a violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. We find no reversible error and affirm.

The record reveals that the appellant was employed as an area superintendent for Texas Contractors at the Fayetteville Sewage Treatment Plant construction site. The appellant regularly carried a gun while on the job as it was customary for him to transport the payroll. After work on the evening of January 27, 1988, the appellant frequented three clubs in the Fayetteville area. Over the course of the evening, the appellant consumed an excessive amount of alcohol. As he was leaving the last club the appellant was involved in an exchange which resulted in the bouncer, David Smart, being shot in the abdomen.

The appellant argued below, and now on appeal, that the shooting was accidental. The appellant contends that the exchange between himself and Smart did not reach volatile proportions, that there were no threats or raised voices, and that after the shooting, the appellant appeared to be stunned and confused.

The appellant’s first argument is that the trial court erred in excluding expert testimony as to the physiological effects of alcohol consumption. The appellant sought to introduce the testimony of Carol Tucker, as an expert in the field of alcoholism, who would testify that the appellant did not possess the requisite mental state for the crime charged. The appellant argues that the exclusion of the witness deprived him of “due process” of law citing In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970), which held that the “due process” clause protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged. The appellant’s argument is that by excluding testimony that would tend to negate the specific intent requirement, the state was effectively relieved of its burden of proving this element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial judge denied the admission of said evidence citing the recent supreme court decision of White v. State, 290 Ark. 130, 717 S.W.2d 784 (1986).

The appellant contends that the trial court misapplied the White case because the court failed to make a distinction between voluntary intoxication as a defense and evidence of voluntary intoxication to negate the existence of a specific element of a crime. The appellant’s argument mirrors the common law rule that evidence of voluntary intoxication, while no excuse for a crime, could be admitted to show the defendant was incapable of forming the specific intent necessary for the crime. This rule was discussed in White where the court overruled the holding in Varnedare v. State, 264 Ark. 596, 573 S.W.2d 57 (1978). The court in Varnedare had stated that by amending § 41 -207 to remove self-induced intoxication as a statutory defense, the legislature, in effect, reinstated any prior Arkansas common law on the subject. The court in White stated that “we are now convinced that our court was wrong in Varnedare when we held that the common law defense of voluntary intoxication was reinstated.” By saying the common law defense had not been reinstated, the court in White effectively held that voluntary intoxication is no longer available as a defense or admissible for the purpose of negating specific intent. Inasmuch as the appellant sought to introduce this testimony to show that he lacked the requisite mental state for the crime charged, this position is contrary to the holding in White. We believe the trial court properly applied the rationale of the White case to the facts of the case at bar and did not err in excluding this testimony.

The appellant contends that the trial judge erred in denying his request that the jury be instructed on battery in the third degree. The state argues that since the appellant did not prepare and offer a proper written instruction on battery in the third degree and have it placed in the records, he is precluded on appeal from a decision on the merits. In order to properly preserve an objection to the court’s failure to give an instruction, the appellant must proffer the requested instruction. Peoples Bank & Trust Co. v. Wallace, 290 Ark. 589, 721 S.W.2d 659 (1986); Henry v. State, 18 Ark. App. 115, 710 S.W.2d 849 (1986). This procedure expedites trial and facilitates compliance with the Arkansas Constitution, Art. 7 § 23, and Ark. R. Crim. P. 33.3, which make it mandatory that the trial judge, when requested by a party or a juror, deliver to the jury a typewritten copy of the oral instructions given by the judge. Id.; Willett v. State, 18 Ark. App. 125, 712 S.W.2d 925 (1986). In this case the text of the proposed instruction does not appear in the abstract or in the transcript. In Green v. State, 7 Ark. App. 175, 646 S.W.2d 20 (1983), we held that where a requested instruction does not appear in either the abstract or the transcript, we would not consider it error for the refusal to give the instruction. Therefore, we find no error on this issue.

The appellant’s third contention is more troublesome. The appellant argues that the prosecutor’s comments upon his post-arrest silence constitute prejudicial error. The appellant cites Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610 (1976), for the proposition that the use for impeachment purposes of petitioner’s silence, at the time of arrest and after receiving Miranda warnings, violated the “due process” clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. As the court explained in Doyle:

When a person under arrest is informed, as Miranda requires, that he may remain silent, that anything he says may be used against him, and that he may have an attorney if he wishes, it seems to me that it does not comport with due process to permit the prosecution during the trial to call attention to his silence at the time of arrest and to insist that because he did not speak about the facts of the case at that time, as he was told he need not do, an unfavorable inference might be drawn as to the truth of his trial testimony.

Our supreme court has discussed and made reference to the rationale of the Doyle decision in concluding that the prosecution is on dangerous ground and courting prejudicial error when any reference is made concerning an accused’s election to remain silent. See Jarreau v. State, 291 Ark. 60, 722 S.W.2d 565 (1987); Stephens v. State, 290 Ark.

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Pharo v. State
783 S.W.2d 64 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
783 S.W.2d 64, 30 Ark. App. 94, 1990 Ark. App. LEXIS 43, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pharo-v-state-arkctapp-1990.