Whitt v. State

2015 Ark. App. 529, 471 S.W.3d 670, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 619
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 30, 2015
DocketCR-15-61
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2015 Ark. App. 529 (Whitt 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
Whitt v. State, 2015 Ark. App. 529, 471 S.W.3d 670, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 619 (Ark. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Judge

| rAfter a jury trial on October 1, 2014, appellant Gregory Whitt was convicted of jury tampering and sentenced to a term of six years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and fined $5,000. On appeal, Whitt argues that (1) his conviction for jury tampering violated constitutional protections against double jeopardy, and (2) there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction. We affirm.

Whitt was charged with endangering the welfare of a minor and resisting arrest arising from an altercation with police, who responded to a June 2013 domestic-disturbance call made by his girlfriend. A jury trial took place on March 20, 2014. While on recess, William Winkleman, a juror in the case, encountered Whitt in the bathroom. Winkleman made a comment to Whitt about how he would rather be fishing, and Whitt then told him that his girlfriend had “taken medication” and had “done some wild things.” Winkleman tried to change the subject and left the bathroom. When he left, Ashley Richardson, another juror on 12the case, overheard Whitt say something to the effect that he did not tell authorities that his girlfriend was taking medication on the night of the incident because she was in medical school.

After deliberations began but prior to reaching a verdict, Winkleman and Richardson notified the circuit judge of Winkle-man’s conversation with Whitt and what Richardson had overheard. The circuit judge declared a mistrial and excused the jury. The circuit judge stated, “Clearly, there is reasonable cause to believe that [Whitt’s] in contempt of this court. I’m therefore going to find him, at least for the time being, in contempt of this court, order him transported to the Sheriff of Washington County, incarcerated, and if the Defendant wishes to be heard, although I have a number of matters set for tomorrow, we’ll try to hear it tomorrow. So the defendant, Gregory Keith Whitt, will be placed in custody.” 1

The following day, on March 21, 2014, Whitt was charged with jury tampering (Class D felony) in violation of Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-53-115 (Repl. 2005). A jury trial took place on October 1, 2014. The State called three witnesses — Corporal Shawn Wilson (the officer who responded to the June 2013 domestic disturbance), Winkleman, and Richardson. At the conclusion of the jury trial, Whitt was convicted of jury tampering, and he was sentenced as a habitual offender to six years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and fined $5,000.

Whitt argues on appeal, as he did in his motion to dismiss below, that his conviction for jury tampering violated constitutional protections against double jeopardy. The basis for 13his argument is that he had been held in contempt for the same conduct that led to the jury-tampering charge.

We review a circuit court’s denial of a motion to dismiss on double-jeopardy grounds de novo on appeal. Winkle v. State, 366 Ark. 318, 235 S.W.3d 482 (2006). When the analysis presents itself as a mixed question of law and fact, the factual determinations made by the trial court are given due deference and are not reversed unless clearly erroneous. Id. at 320, 235 S.W.3d at 483. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 2, Section 8, of the Arkansas Constitution require that no person be twice put in jeopardy of life or liberty for the same offense. The Double Jeopardy Clause protects criminal defendants from (1). a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, (2) a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and (8) multiple punishments for the same offense. Hughes v. State, 347 Ark. 696, 702, 66 S.W.3d 645, 648 (2002). In order to determine whether the same act violates two separate statutory provisions, we apply the same-elements test as set out in Bloekburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). Where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses, or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of a fact that the other does not. Walker v. State, 2012 Ark. App. 61, 389 S.W.3d 10. While criminal contempt does not have .elements as does a statutory criminal offense, this court has stated that it still applies the same-elements test. Penn v. State, 73 Ark. App. 424, 44 S.W.3d 746 (2001).

Whitt argues that he was held in criminal contempt for speaking to a juror during his trial on March 20, 2014, and incarcerated immediately, which was punitive. He further argues |4that his contempt offense is a lesser-included offense of jury tampering. Whitt relies on Penn v. State in support of his argument.

In Penn v. State, Penn, who was an attorney, was charged with interference with court-ordered custody. She filed a motion to dismiss on double-jeopardy grounds because she had previously been held in contempt of court relating to the same conduct, and was sentenced to five days in jail and ordered to pay an $8500 attorney fee as a sanction. The motion was denied, and she filed an interlocutory appeal to this court. We reversed the circuit court’s .denial of the motion to dismiss on double-jeopardy grounds, finding that the judgment of contempt was a lesser-included offense of the crime with which Penn was charged. Id. at 428, 44 S.W.3d at 749.

Whitt’s case is distinguishable from Penn. While Whitt’s being held in contempt for speáking with a juror may be a lesser-included offense of jury tampering, we need not make that determination because there is no indication in the present case that Whitt was punished for contempt. The record before us shows only what the circuit court said from the bench, which indicated that Whitt had been found in contempt “for the time being” and ordered to be taken into custody. At the beginning of the trial, the circuit court, in denying the renewed motion to dismiss on double-jeopardy grounds, stated that Whitt was never punished. There is no indication that a hearing was held, that an order of contempt was entered, or that Whitt was punished. Because there was no evidence that Whitt was punished for contempt as was the case in Penn, Whitt’s reliance on Penn is misplaced. An appellant is required to bring up a record that demonstrates error. See Hobbs v. State, 43 Ark. App. 149, 862 S.W.2d 285 (1993). lüBased on these facts, we hold- that Whitt’s conviction for jury tampering was not barred by double jeopardy.

In the alternative, Whitt argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction of jury, tampering. Our standard of review is well settled:

A motion for directed verdict is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. When a defendant makes a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State.

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Bluebook (online)
2015 Ark. App. 529, 471 S.W.3d 670, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whitt-v-state-arkctapp-2015.