Williams v. State

986 S.W.2d 123, 65 Ark. App. 176, 1999 Ark. App. LEXIS 91
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 24, 1999
DocketCA CR 98-42
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 986 S.W.2d 123 (Williams 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
Williams v. State, 986 S.W.2d 123, 65 Ark. App. 176, 1999 Ark. App. LEXIS 91 (Ark. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

Margaret Meads, Judge.

Appellant, Jerome Williams, was convicted in a bench trial of residential burglary and theft of property. The theft-of-property conviction was merged with the residential burglary conviction, and appellant was sentenced to ten years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Appellant advances four arguments on appeal: (1) there was insufficient evidence to convict him of burglary; (2) there was insufficient evidence to convict him of theft of property; (3) he did not waive his right to a jury trial in accordance with Rule 31.2 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure; and (4) he did not make a knowing and intelligent waiver of his right to a jury trial. We find no error; therefore, we affirm.

For evidence to be sufficient, there must be substantial evidence to support the verdict. Mulkey v. State, 330 Ark. 113, 952 S.W.2d 149 (1997). Evidence is substantial if it is forceful enough to compel a conclusion one way or the other beyond suspicion and conjecture. Id. In determining whether the evidence is substantial to support a conviction, the appellate court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee, only considering the evidence that supports the guilty verdict. Akins v. State, 330 Ark. 228, 955 S.W.2d 483 (1997). All of the evidence, including that which may have been erroneously admitted, is considered in determining if there is sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction. Burkett v. State, 40 Ark. App. 150, 842 S.W.2d 857 (1992).

At trial, appellant’s former girlfriend, Helena Douglas, testified that she and appellant ended their two-month relationship around December 3, 1996. Appellant had been living with Douglas in her apartment for two to three weeks prior to the end of the relationship, but the apartment was leased only in Douglas’s name. After the couple had broken up, Douglas had difficulty removing appellant from her apartment and called the police for assistance on several occasions. According to Douglas, on December 9, 1996, the police escorted appellant away and told him not to return. That night, she informed the apartment complex that she wanted the locks to her apartment changed because appellant had a key to the first lock; the manager of the apartment complex informed her on December 10 that the locks were changed about 8:00 that morning. Douglas stated that she received a new key to her apartment and that she was the only person who had a key. Appellant did not have Douglas’s permission to enter her apartment after he was escorted away on December 9.

Douglas stayed with a friend on December 9 because she was afraid to stay alone in her apartment. Upon returning to her apartment the evening of December 10, Douglas found that the door was locked, a window in her bedroom was broken, and her television, VCR, and microwave oven were missing. She testified that in 1994 she purchased all of the items that were missing and that she paid approximately $250 for the microwave, $200 to $230 for the television, and $194 for the VCR. Douglas also stated that appellant called her after the incident and admitted that he had taken her property. Appellant told her that if she would give him his “stuff,” he would return the television and VCR.

Wayne Shipp testified that he was at Douglas’s apartment on December 10 when appellant called, she handed him the telephone, he asked appellant why he had taken Douglas’s things, and appellant replied that it was his “shit.” Officer Shonda Owens of the Little Rock Police Department testified that while investigating the burglary at Douglas’s apartment, she listened in on a telephone conversation between appellant and Douglas and that appellant said that all he wanted was his stuff, and that if she had given him his belongings it never would have happened.

Appellant testified on his own behalf. He testified that he purchased the television and VCR and gave them to Douglas as an early Christmas present, and that he purchased the microwave when he and Douglas began dating. He admitted that he took the items but claimed they belonged to him. Appellant denied breaking the window and entering the apartment in that manner; rather, he asserted that he used his key to enter the apartment at 7:00 a.m. on December 10. At the close of the evidence, the trial judge found appellant guilty of residential burglary and theft.

For his first point on appeal, appellant contends that there was insufficient evidence to find him guilty of residential burglary. A person commits the offense of residential burglary if “he enters or remains unlawfully in a residential occupiable structure of another person with the purpose of committing therein any offense punishable by imprisonment.” Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-201(a)(1) (Repl. 1993).1 Appellant acknowledges that he entered Douglas’s apartment but claims there is no proof that he entered or remained unlawfully.

Appellant contends that the court cannot rely on hearsay evidence that the locks were changed at 8:00 a.m. on December 10 and that police officers had instructed him on the night of December 9 “not to come back,” because this was not competent evidence. We disagree. These answers were in response to questions asked by appellant’s counsel, and appellant did not object to Douglas’s answers at the time she gave them. Under the doctrine of invited error, one who is responsible for error cannot be heard to complain of that for which he was responsible. McGhee v. State, 330 Ark. 38, 954 S.W.2d 206 (1997); Morgan v. State, 308 Ark. 627, 826 S.W.2d 271 (1992). Moreover, any objection to the answers on the basis of hearsay is not preserved for appeal because there was no objection in the trial court. See Alexander v. State, 335 Ark. 131, 983 S.W.2d 110 (1998).

Further, hearsay evidence admitted without objection can constitute substantial evidence to sustain a conviction. Darrough v. State, 330 Ark. 808, 957 S.W.2d 707 (1997). A person “enters or remains unlawfully” when he “enter[s] or remain [s] in or upon premises when not licensed or privileged to do so.” Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-101(4) (Repl. 1993). Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, as we must, there is evidence that the apartment was leased in Douglas’s name only; appellant was escorted away from the apartment on the night of December 9 and was told not to return; the locks were changed so that the key in appellant’s possession would no longer work; and appellant did not have permission from Douglas to be in the apartment. This constitutes substantial evidence to support the finding that appellant unlawfully entered Douglas’s apartment.

Appellant also asserts that there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction for theft of property. A person commits the offense of theft of property if he “[k]nowingly takes or exercises unauthorized control over . . . the property of another person, with the purpose of depriving the owner thereof[.]” Ark. Code Ann. § 5-36-103(a)(l) (Supp. 1995).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Paul Anthony Beene v. State of Arkansas
2019 Ark. App. 493 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2019)
Johns v. State
2014 Ark. App. 560 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2014)
Barrow v. State
377 S.W.3d 481 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2010)
Maxwell v. State
41 S.W.3d 402 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
986 S.W.2d 123, 65 Ark. App. 176, 1999 Ark. App. LEXIS 91, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-state-arkctapp-1999.