Woodson v. State

374 S.W.3d 1, 2009 Ark. App. 602, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 772
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 23, 2009
DocketNo. CA CR 08-1491
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 374 S.W.3d 1 (Woodson 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
Woodson v. State, 374 S.W.3d 1, 2009 Ark. App. 602, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 772 (Ark. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Judge.

| TAppellant Charles Woodson appeals his September 17, 2008 conviction by a Randolph County jury on charges of commercial burglary, arson of property worth at least $100,000, and misdemeanor theft of property. He was sentenced to a total of twenty years’ imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Appellant’s sole argument on appeal is that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict. We affirm.

Facts

On November 8, 2007, law-enforcement officers initiated an investigation regarding a fire that had occurred the previous evening at 166 Café. The investigating officers determined that a forced entry into the building was made through the removal of an air-conditioning unit and that the point of origin of the fire was inside the restaurant in the area between the register and a desk behind the counter. Officers also discovered spots adjacent 12to the point of origin where the floor material had burned more significantly than other parts of the floor, possibly indicating the use of accelerants. A one-gallon Crown White fuel can was found near the building, and debris from the burned area tested positive for ethanol and a medium-based alkene product, such as candle oil or some type of lighter fluid. A small pry-bar was found near the cash-register, and a saw was discovered on top of the air-conditioning unit. The tray from the cash-register drawer was also missing and was never recovered.

Officers received information indicating that Ms. Patsy Adams and Ms. Sandra (a/k/a Sissy) Wilson had been observed at the location of the 166 Café around midnight on the night of the fire. Officers interviewed Ms. Adams and Ms. Wilson, which prompted them to speak with Ms. Lucinda (a/k/a Cindy) Burleson, Ms. Christina Luther, and appellant. All four women initially denied any involvement or knowledge of the incident, but officers eventually learned that the saw discovered at 166 Café belonged to Ms. Adams. Ms. Adams subsequently admitted her involvement and agreed to cooperate in the investigation.

Additionally, Ms. Wilson — appellant’s cousin who at the time was on parole — also agreed to assist in the investigation by allowing officers to place a digital-recording device in her vehicle to record conversations between appellant and herself. She drove to appellant’s residence and picked him up, while at the same time Special Agent Wendel Jines and Deputy Jim Milam were listening to the conversation in their vehicle. Ms. Wilson asked appellant whether he retrieved the Coleman can (meaning the Crown White can), and they discussed items from which appellant wiped fingerprints and buried in the woods.

laMs. Wilson admitted to being with appellant, Ms. Burleson, Ms. Luther, and Ms. Adams on the night of the fire at the home she shared with Ms. Burleson. She explained that, after having dinner and playing darts, she went with Ms. Adams and appellant to Ms. Adams’s house. Ms. Wilson testified that she noticed Ms. Adams drawing something that turned out to be the floor plan of 166 Café — where Ms. Adams had previously worked. Appellant indicated to her that he planned to rob 166 Café. After indicating that she did not want to be involved, Ms. Wilson agreed to go with Ms. Adams and appellant to get cigarettes. Appellant took a hand saw from Ms. Adams’s residence with him on the errand.

Ms. Wilson testified that Ms. Adams drove to 166 Café, during which time she noticed that Ms. Adams and appellant had walkie-talkies. Ms. Adams dropped appellant off at a house just past the Café, and he took the saw and walkie-talkie with him. The two women left, drove to the store, bought cigarettes, and returned to pick up appellant. When they did not see him, they parked a little way up the road from 166 Café. Approximately one hour after dropping him off, appellant contacted them via the walkie-talkie, and as Ms. Adams pulled in near 166 Café, Ms. Wilson noticed officers approaching. The two women alerted appellant via the walkie-talkie and then pulled up to the officer’s vehicle. Ms. Adams explained that her car was overheating and they were getting water. At the conclusion of the conversation, the two women returned to Ms. Adams’s house.

Subsequently, Ms. Wilson and Ms. Adams went back to search for appellant, but returned to Ms. Wilson’s house at approximately 4:00 a.m. after having no success in locating |4him. Upon their arrival, appellant came out the back door, bloody and scratched from having run through the woods, through barbed wire, and into a tree. He indicated that he had “tore up the cash register and stuff up.” Upon Ms. Adams’s urging that something had to be done, appellant stated that “the only thing I can do is torch the place.” Ms. Wilson then drove them to Ms. Adams’s house, where Ms. Adams retrieved the Crown White fuel can and gave it to appellant. Ms. Wilson then drove to 166 Café where appellant left with the fuel can. After the women drove around a few minutes, appellant jumped back into the vehicle. Ms. Wilson took Ms. Adams to her house, and she and appellant returned to hers. The following morning, appellant told Ms. Wilson he had taken about $200 and some jewelry but had stashed it out in the woods.

Ms. Adams gave a similar account of the incident, adding information about appellant taking the saw, pry-bar, and Crown White fuel can from her house. She indicated that when he got out of the vehicle with rubber gloves, the pry-bar, the saw, and a flashlight, there was no question in her mind that he was planning to rob 166 Café. She indicated that she told appellant that he had to take back what he had stolen. Subsequently, appellant indicated to Ms. Adams that he had gotten some money, but not how much, and that he had hidden it in the woods.

It is undisputed that both Ms. Wilson and Ms. Adams were charged in this ease and were accomplices in the incident. Both negotiated deals with the State that spared them from serving any jail time.

|fiMs. Burleson, Ms. Wilson’s roommate, testified that she was with Ms. Wilson, Ms. Adams, and appellant earlier on the night of November 7, 2007, but that she went to bed early. She stated that she was unaware of what had occurred until the following morning when she saw appellant’s injuries and heard his account of the incident. She stated that appellant told her that the robbery was Ms. Adams’s idea. Ms. Burleson also overheard appellant telling Ms. Adams that he had only taken about $200. She also discussed the issue of fingerprints being discovered, and explained that appellant assured her that only Ms. Adams’s fingerprints might be discovered on her saw that he had left at the scene. Ms. Burleson testified that she also witnessed Ms. Wilson burn the map of 166 Café that was in Ms. Adams’s handwriting.

Although she initially lied to police to try to protect Ms. Wilson, Ms. Burleson also agreed to wear a recording device. Apparently the equipment she used was faulty, and officers were unable to obtain sufficient information from her attempt. She was not charged in this incident, even for obstruction of justice related to her initial lies to police; however, she may have received a lighter sentence on a methamphetamine charge in another county because of her cooperation.

Ms. Lúther testified that she saw appellant around 8:00 a.m. on November 8, 2007. He explained to her that the gash between his nose and two black eyes occurred when he was leaving 166 Café and ran under a barbed-wire fence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
374 S.W.3d 1, 2009 Ark. App. 602, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 772, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodson-v-state-arkctapp-2009.