Proctor v. State

79 S.W.3d 370, 349 Ark. 648, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 405
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJuly 5, 2002
DocketCR 01-1382
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 79 S.W.3d 370 (Proctor 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
Proctor v. State, 79 S.W.3d 370, 349 Ark. 648, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 405 (Ark. 2002).

Opinions

Annabelle Clinton Imber, Justice.

After a jury trial, the appellant, Julian Robert Proctor, was convicted and sentenced to twenty years for attempted first-degree murder, fifteen years for attempted kidnapping, five years for stalking, five years for burglary, three years for terroristic threatening, and one year for third-degree battery, with the sentences to run concurrently except that the sentences for first-degree murder and attempted kidnapping were to run consecutively, for a total of thirty-five years in the Arkansas Department of Correction.1 On appeal, Proctor raises two points of error. First he contends that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence the transcript of an officer’s testimony from a bond-revocation hearing in a separate case. Second, he contends there is insufficient evidence to support his convictions. We agree that the trial court erroneously admitted the transcript of the officer’s testimony. However, as to all charges except attempted first-degree murder, we declare the error harmless because the evidence of guilt is overwhelming. Accordingly, we affirm those convictions, but reverse and remand the attempted-murder conviction.

I. Facts.

The resolution of Proctor’s points on appeal requires that we recite the facts of the case in some detail. On December 1, 1998, Proctor was charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted kidnapping, and residential burglary. On June 9, 1999, the felony information was amended to add three counts of third-degree domestic battery, four counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, and one count of second-degree stalking.

Pursuant to Ark. R. Evid. 804(b)(1) (2002), the State moved, in limine, to allow the introduction of the transcript of Officer Burt Puckett’s testimony from a bond-revocation hearing in a separate case because he was unavailable due to service in the international peace-keeping force in Kosovo, Serbia. Procter objected on several grounds: first, bond hearings and trials involve different liberty interests and standards of proof, and admission of the testimony would be prejudicial; second, Proctor had different counsel at the bond hearing who did not know about evidence affecting Officer Puckett’s credibility; that is, the officer had invited the victim, Melissa Mahan, to go with him on a date prior to the arrest; third, admission of the evidence would violate the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Ark. R. Evid. 804(b)(1) (2001).

A. The Bond-Revocation Flearing.

On December 8, 1998, a hearing was held to determine whether to revoke Proctor’s bond resulting from a previous domestic disturbance involving him and Melissa. At that hearing, Officer Puckett testified concerning the events of November 29, 1998, that led to the instant charges. He had been assigned to conduct additional patrols of the vicinity of Melissa’s residence. Around mid-morning, he drove past her residence and noticed that her car door was open and her son was in the back seat. The boy told him that Proctor was inside the house. As the officer approached the front door, Proctor came outside. Initially, Officer Puckett spoke to Proctor in the yard. Then, after backup arrived, they moved to the officer’s car, at which point Proctor stated that he just wanted to talk with Melissa for about five minutes. Officer Puckett then asked Proctor if he realized he was there unlawfully, in that he had committed burglary.

Proctor’s arrest followed shortly thereafter, and he was orally advised of his Miranda rights at approximately 10:15-30 a.m. The officers performed a pat-down search and found duct tape, fleece gloves, canvas, a six-inch knife, handcuffs, pliers, and a flashlight. Proctor also had a Wal-Mart receipt in his wallet that indicated he had purchased the duct tape, a nylon rope, a flashlight, and the plier tool two hours earlier. The officers transported Proctor to the police station, where they mirandized him again and filled out a rights form at 12:55 p.m. Officer Puckett testified that during the custodial interview, Proctor confessed that he had pulled open the vent on top of Melissa’s house and had gone into the attic to await her return. Officer Puckett also testified that Proctor said he planned to tie her up with the duct tape and handcuffs, kill her, and then kill himself. No one other than Officer Puckett was present at the custodial interview. He did not take notes or make a tape recording of the interview; rather, he wrote down his recollection of what Proctor said shortly after the interview.

Melissa also appeared at the bond hearing, but testified that Proctor did not make any threatening gestures or make statements that threatened her life or that of her child. The trial court found that Proctor had violated the terms and conditions of the bond in the earlier domestic disturbance case and revoked his bond in that case.

B. The Pretrial Hearing.

On September 27, 1999, a pretrial hearing was held in this case in connection with the State’s motion to admit the transcript of Officer Puckett’s bond-hearing testimony because he was an unavailable witness. First, the prosecutor’s victim-witness coordinator, Charlotte Garrett Yates, testified about her attempts to contact Officer Puckett. After determining that he was in Kosovo, Serbia, she contacted Dyncorp in Fort Worth who told her she would have to go through the London, England office. The London office told-her that she could not call him directly, but they would attempt to get him á message. She never heard from Officer Puckett.

Proctor argued that the bond-hearing testimony was riddled with inadmissible hearsay and its introduction would violate his right to confrontation under the U.S. Constitution. He pointed out that the hearing was for the limited purpose of bond revocation, and that the testimony elicited at the hearing was not intended to be evidentiary for trial purposes. Proctor also argued that the attorney who represented him at the bond hearing did not know about Officer Puckett’s prior attempt to date Melissa and, therefore, could not have properly impeached the officer’s credibility at that hearing. The prosecutor responded that the bond hearing was a reliable, full-fledged hearing and that most of the questions proffered by Proctor could be answered by other witnesses. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court found that Officer Puckett was unavailable to the State as a witness and granted the State’s motion to admit the transcript of the officer’s' prior testimony.

C. The Trial.

The first witness, Melissa Mahan, testified as follows: She met Proctor when she hired him as the night auditor at the Comfort Inn in Conway. They were each married to other people at the time, became friends, and then began having an affair from June 1997 until February 1998. On February 13, 1998, she and a girlfriend were leaving her house when Proctor drove up and blocked the drive, saying he wanted to talk. They were able to get away, but he was following them, so they went to the police station to make a report. He then showed up at Melissa’s office in the Comfort Inn where he became angry and threw some things. She eventually calmed him down and he left.

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Bluebook (online)
79 S.W.3d 370, 349 Ark. 648, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/proctor-v-state-ark-2002.