Taylor v. State

223 S.W.3d 80, 94 Ark. App. 21
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 18, 2006
DocketCA CR 04-1262
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 223 S.W.3d 80 (Taylor 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
Taylor v. State, 223 S.W.3d 80, 94 Ark. App. 21 (Ark. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Olly Neal, Judge.

Appellant Robert C. Taylor was convicted of five counts of first-degree forgery and one count of first-degree continuing criminal enterprise in connection with the possession and uttering of counterfeit money. He was sentenced to 600 months in the Arkansas Department of Correction. On appeal, appellant argues that: (1) the trial court erred in denying his motions for directed verdict; (2) the trial court erred in denying his objection based upon ineffective assistance of counsel; (3) the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial. We affirm in part and reverse and dismiss in part.

The facts of this case are as follows. On January 14, 2004, the State filed a felony information charging appellant with six counts of first-degree forgery. The State filed an amended information on March 16, 2004, charging appellant with six counts of first-degree forgery and one count of first-degree continuing criminal enterprise. At some point, count two, one of the first-degree forgery charges, was nolle prossed. On May 13 - 14, 2004, a jury trial was held in the Drew County Circuit Court.

During the trial Sherry Price testified that, on January 3, 2004, she worked as a cashier at the Save-A-Lot Store. Around 8:00, a man came in and attempted to pay for two dollars’ worth of merchandise with a one-hundred-dollar bill. Ms. Price described the bill as waxy, slimy, and burned around the edges. The man informed Ms. Price that the reason the bill looked so bad was because his house had recently burned. Ms. Price told the man that she could not break a one-hundred-dollar bill and called her manager. The manager marked the bill with a “counterfeit pen” and the edges of the bill changed color. When the manager refused to take the bill, the man left the store. Ms. Price said that State’s Exhibit One looked like the bill appellant tried to pass. She remembered the burned hole on the bill. From the stand, Ms. Price identified appellant as the person who tried to pass the bill.

Mark Hodnett, general manager at the Save-A-Lot Store, remembered being called to the front by a cashier to look at an “unusual” one-hundred-dollar bill. He said that, when he examined the bill, he could not determine if it was good, so he suggested that appellant take the bill to the bank to have it verified. When shown State’s Exhibit One, Mr. Hodnett said that it appeared to be the same bill. He described it as being covered in tape and having a burned hole. Mr. Hodnett identified State’s Exhibit Four as the photo line up that he was later shown. He recalled picking number five as the person who came into the store. He identified appellant as number five.

Stanley Pryor, a clerk at the Pine Hill Liquor Store, testified that during the first week ofjanuary 2004, he took a one-hundred-dollar bill from appellant. After appellant left, Mr. Pryor became suspicious, so he asked his manager to check the bill. When his manager marked the edges of the bill, it indicated the bill was counterfeit. Mr. Pryor identified State’s Exhibit Two as looking like the bill he took. Mr. Pryor said that, a few days later, appellant' returned and attempted to make a purchase using a ten-dollar bill. When he told appellant the money was counterfeit, appellant protested, so he called his manager. Mr. Pryor identified State’s Exhibit Three as the ten-dollar bill. He said he recognized the mark he made on it.

Darrell Snuffer, also an employee of the Pine Hill Liquor Store, testified that, on January 3, 2004, appellant came into the store and passed a counterfeit one-hundred-dollar bill. He said that appellant returned to the store on January 6 and, when asked his name, appellant identified himself. He said that, on this occasion, appellant tried to pass a ten-dollar bill. Mr. Snuffer identified State’s Exhibit Two as the one-hundred-dollar bill. He identified State’s Exhibit Three as the ten-dollar bill. He recalled that the sides of the ten-dollar bill tested “bad.” Mr. Snuffer said that, when questioned about the one-hundred-dollar bill, appellant denied passing it. He said that appellant insisted that the ten-dollar bill was good; however, Mr. Snuffer believed the bill was suspect and asked appellant to remain in the store until the sheriff came. Appellant refused and left the store. Mr. Snuffer followed appellant outside the store and wrote down appellant’s license-plate number and traveling directions.

John Dement of the Monticello Police Department testified that he investigated the passing of the counterfeit bills at the Pine Hill Liquor Store. He said that the liquor store had video surveillance, and he managed to obtain the videotapes for the evenings of January 3 and January 6. Officer Dement identified State’s Exhibits Six and Seven as the original videotapes. From a review of the videotapes, Officer Dement recognized appellant. During Officer Dement’s testimony, the videotapes were played and Officer Dement provided narration. He identified appellant on the videotapes. He said that he had known appellant several years and said “[I am] familiar with the way he carries himself, how he looks, the way he walks. I can identify him from those features, and when I watch the film, I see [appellant] entering Pine Hill Liquor.”

At the conclusion of Officer Dement’s testimony, appellant moved for mistrial. He argued that based on Officer Dement’s testimony concerning his personal contact with appellant, the jury would assume the contact arose out of some type of criminal activity. The trial court denied appellant’s motion but offered a cautionary instruction. Appellant declined the offered instruction.

David Anderson, the mayor of Monticello, testified that appellant’s mother rented an apartment from him, and that appellant lived with his mother. Mayor Anderson identified State’s Exhibit Nine as a Wal-Mart sack with money in it that he found while raking pine straw in the back of his apartment complex. He said that he found the bag against the wall next to appellant’s mother’s apartment. Mayor Anderson testified that he turned the bag over to the police chief.

Jessica Green, the mother of appellant’s child, testified that on January 6, she and appellant went to the Cracker Box Food Store. She said that appellant asked her to take a one-hundred-dollar bill in and have it checked. Before taking the bill, she asked if the bill was fake, and appellant replied that it was real. She said that State’s Exhibit One looked like the bill appellant gave her. She said it had the same texture and the same hole. When she took the bill inside the store, she was told that the bill was counterfeit and that the store was keeping the bill. Ms. Green said that, afterwards they went to the Pine Hill Liquor Store. Appellant then went inside the liquor store and, after about fifteen minutes, appellant came back outside. The manager followed appellant outside. When the manager told appellant he had a fake bill, appellant and the manager started arguing. Eventually, appellant and Ms. Green left and went back to appellant’s apartment. Shortly thereafter, they were arrested. During her testimony, Ms. Green recalled that, in the past, appellant had mentioned he wanted to counterfeit some money.

Kevin Brooks, appellant’s friend, recalled being at appellant’s home one day and seeing some money lying on appellant’s bed. When shown State’s Exhibit One, Mr. Brooks said that he saw a one-hundred-dollar bill similar to the one in the exhibit amongst the money on the bed. Mr.

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Related

Williams v. State
334 S.W.3d 873 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
223 S.W.3d 80, 94 Ark. App. 21, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-state-arkctapp-2006.