Ricketts v. State

494 S.W.2d 462, 254 Ark. 409, 1973 Ark. LEXIS 1528
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 7, 1973
Docket5810
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 494 S.W.2d 462 (Ricketts 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
Ricketts v. State, 494 S.W.2d 462, 254 Ark. 409, 1973 Ark. LEXIS 1528 (Ark. 1973).

Opinion

J. Fred Jones, Justice.

Ardell Ricketts was charged with murder in the first degree for the killing of Ward Phillips. He was convicted at a jury trial of murder in the second degree and was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of five years. The errors he assigns on this appeal are hereafter discussed but first we relate some of the background leading to the difficulty between Ricketts and Phillips.

Ricketts maintained a campsite on the Buffalo River near his home in Newton County about 18 miles down river from Jasper. Ward Phillips used and maintained a campsite formerly owned by his family on the river some distance down stream from Rickett’s campsite and a few hundred yards up stream from a low water bridge across the river. On June 8, 1972, Ricketts’ wife and young daughters together with his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Wallen, and their children were occupying the Ricketts campsite.

Bill Houston and Mr. Phillips worked together in conducting float trips down the Buffalo River. Mr. Houston furnished the boats and guides and Mr. Phillips furnished sleeping facilities and prepared campsites and meals at the end of the day’s trip. A Mr. Allen Johnson and his friend, Earlie Woods, lived in Missouri and they made arrangements with Houston and Phillips for a fishing float trip on the Buffalo River. They met Houston and Phillips in Jasper and on June 8 started what was to have been a two day float down the river in one of Houston’s boats operated by Houston’s employee. In the meantime Phillips drove overland to his campsite \yith his pickup truck and camper trailer in order to have the campsite prepared for Johnson and Woods at the end of their first day’s float down the river.

The Phillips campsite was protected by a gate across the road leading down into the campsite, and the gate was kept locked with a padlock and chain. Mr. Phillips parked his pickup truck with the attached camper trailer inside.his camp area some distance from the gate. He arranged to sleep in the “hull” on the back of his pickup and had arranged for Johnson and Woods to sleep in the camper he pulled behind the pickup. When Johnson and Woods arrived at the campsite late in the afternoon on June 8, Mr. Houston was there for the purpose of taking his employee home. After cleaning some fish Johnson and Woods had caught, Mr. Houston left with the intention of returning early the next morning with another boat to continue the float trip down river from the low water bridge below the campsite. After Houston and his employee had gone, Johnson and Woods desired a bath and fresh clothes so they, as well as Mr. Phillips; went bathing in the river adjacent to the campsite at the lower end of a long hole of water, which was also more or less a popular swimming place used by the public. After taking a bath in the river and eating the evening meal Phillips had prepared, they all three retired for the' night in their respective sleeping quarters.

In the meantime at the Ricketts’ campsite, Ricketts’, wife and sister and their young daughters had been boat riding on the river in the afternoon of June 8, and Mb. Ricketts had been on a business trip to Kansas City, Missouri. When Ricketts arrived at his campsite about 10 o’clock that night, someone in his group told him that they had paddled their boat down the river that afternoon and saw three men swimming nude adjacent to the Phillips campsite; that upon seeing their boat one of the men remarked that it was a boatload of. “damn women,” and one of the men then left the water totally nude and stood on the sandbar and dried himself with a towel.

Mr. Ricketts drove his automobile to the Phillips campsite and after sounding the automobile horn for a short period of time at the gate, he drove on to his home about six miles away where he exchanged the automobile for a truck and obtained a .30-.30 rifle and a .22 caliber pistol. He then returned to the Phillips campsite where he harassed and intimidated the occupants the remainder of the night. When Mr. Phillips finally attempted to leave his campsite early on the morning of June 9, Mr. Ricketts followed him and killed him with the .22 caliber pistol, The facts are more specifically set out herein from, the evidence discussed under the assignments of error.

The appellant first contends there was no substantial evidence to sustain the conviction and argues that theje was no malice proven. We do not agree. Murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being, in the peace of the State, with malice aforethought, either express or implied. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 41-2201 (Repl. 1964). Malice is implied by statute when no considerable provocation appears, or when all the circumstances of the killing manifest an abandoned and wicked disposition. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 41-2204 (Repl. 1964). Certainly the evidence in this case fits at least the statutory definition of implied malice.

According to the testimony of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Woods, after they and Mr. Phillips retired about 9 or 10 o’clock on the night of June 8 they were awakened about midnight by an automobile horn blowing near the camp. They saw the rear of the automobile as it left their campsite and assumed it was occupied by teenagers. A short time later they were awakened again by a truck’s headlights flooding the campsite and a horn blowing. The truck was parked at the closed campsite gate and its horn was blowing constantly. A man, later, identified as Ricketts, was standing outside his truck cursing and firing weapons and demanding that Mr. Phillips come to the gate and talk with him. While Johnson and Woods were getting dressed, Mr. Phillips made various excuses for not going to the gate. Ricketts then threatened to fire his rifle through the camper trailer if Mr. Phillips did not come up to the gate and talk with him. Ricketts demanded that Phillips come to the gate unarmed and, according to Johnson and Woods, he told Mr. Phillips he would get hurt if he came to the gate armed. Mr. Phillips handed Johnson and Woods a flashlight and shouted to Ricketts that he could not come to the gate because he was barefoot. He warned Ricketts that he might injure a woman if he shot through the camper trailer and suggested that Ricketts come to where Phillips was if he wanted to talk with him. As Ricketts approached the trailer camper carrying his rifle, Johnson and Woods slipped out of the camper and hid in the woods between the campsite and the river until daylight. According to Johnson and Woods, Mr. Ricketts remained at the Phillips’ campsite the remainder of the night after they hid in the woods and the horn on the truck continued to blow until it appeared to die out because of a depleted battery.

Mr. Houston returned to the campsite just after daylight as he had agreed the previous day in order to continue the float trip. From where they were hiding Johnson and Woods saw Mr. Houston drive across the low water bridge where he turned around and started back across the bridge. Mr. Ricketts also drove his truck across the bridge and stopped and talked with Houston. He then drove across the bridge and also turned around and drove back toward the campsite. After hearing a truck leave the campsite, Johnson and Woods slipped back in sight of the area and found that Mr. Phillips’ truck and camper trailer as well as Ricketts’ truck were gone. Johnson and Woods then caught a ride with a Mr. Waters who was crossing the low water bridge on his way to work in Jasper.

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Bluebook (online)
494 S.W.2d 462, 254 Ark. 409, 1973 Ark. LEXIS 1528, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ricketts-v-state-ark-1973.