England v. State

Cite as 2016 Ark. App. 211
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION I
No. CR-15-696
OPINION DELIVERED APRIL 20, 2016
JAMES NELSON ENGLAND APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI
APPELLANT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT,
FOURTH DIVISION
[NO. 60 CR-2014-1732]
V.
HONORABLE HERBERT THOMAS
WRIGHT, JUDGE
STATE OF ARKANSAS
APPELLEE AFFIRMED
ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Chief Judge
James England appeals his conviction of rape and incest, arguing that the Pulaski
County Circuit Court committed reversible error by permitting the State to introduce
testimony and evidence of his alleged suicide attempt. We affirm.
I. Facts
England was charged by felony information on December 19, 2012, with rape and
two counts of incest based on the allegations of his two stepdaughters. It was alleged that
these acts occurred between January 1, 2009, and August 31, 2011, during which time one
stepdaughter was under the age of eighteen. On May 4, 2015, England filed a motion-in-
limine seeking, among other things, a prohibition on the State from introducing any
testimony regarding a photograph of him with what appeared to be a noose around his neck,
the photograph itself, and any evidence of suicidal ideations or attempts by him.
Cite as 2016 Ark. App. 211
In response to the motion, the State argued that it expected to present testimony that
England was manipulative and controlling. England’s stepdaughter, Samantha Barnes, was
expected to testify that England had texted her the picture of himself with a noose around
his neck and that England said that he intended to kill himself after she moved out of his
residence. The State argued that this was relevant because each victim had delayed in
reporting the sexual activities that took place because of the threats, manipulation, and
intimidation by England.
At the pretrial hearing on England’s motion, the trial court ruled that the photograph
of England with the noose around his neck was inadmissible unless the defense “opens the
door.” However, any of the statements that England had made to the victims were “fair
game.”
Lindsay Bean, born January 4, 1992, testified at trial that England was her stepfather,
her mother, Peggy Stane, married England when she was six years old, and they had
divorced in January 2015. She said that during the time her mother was married to England,
he was like a father to her and her siblings Kelly Lovell, Samantha Barnes, and Brent
England, who was the only biological child of England and Peggy. She said that England
was the disciplinarian and controlled what she did at school and on weekends. She said that
when she turned seventeen, she traveled with him in his semi-trailer to haul cows out of
town. She testified as follows:
At that time we were in the sleeper and he got on top of me, and he tried to do
things with me and I said no. I asked him to get off me, and he stopped. We got in
the cab of the truck. We started driving again, I don’t know how long after that but
we stopped again on the same day and he laid down. We laid down again and he
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got on top of me. And that’s when he pushed my panties aside and he penetrated
me. It wasn’t very long, and he got up, and I didn’t really realize what was happening
until I felt blood putting my clothes back on.
Lindsay testified that she had sexual intercourse with England about 400 times. She
said that if she did not do what he asked, he would be in a bad mood. She stated that there
were a lot of times “we didn’t say no,” so she did not know what he would have done if
she had refused him, but she claimed that it was just the thought of what he would do or
how he would act that propelled her to allow it.
Peggy Stane testified that she had been married to England, and her daughters were
his victims. She testified about England’s work history and said that the girls “went on the
road with him” when he drove his truck, sometimes together and sometimes individually.
Peggy said that Lindsay told her that England had been having sex with her but that she did
not want to believe it. She asked Samantha if anything ever happened between her and
England, and Samantha denied it at first, but she later told Peggy that it had happened.
Peggy said that, at the girls’ request, she did not contact police. She said that when she
finally confronted England, he denied it, but then said, “It wasn’t my fault. They initiated
it.” She stated that England had a temper and that he became very controlling and then
fervently abusive during their marriage. She claimed that he had threatened to commit
suicide more than once.
Samantha testified that she was born on August 22, 1985, and that her mother Peggy
had been married to England. She said that England was the disciplinarian and had set the
rules. She said that England treated her as a wife, and the sexual relationship between them
started in 2001 just after she turned sixteen, and that it continued until August 2011. She
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said that she was the caretaker for England’s mother, who moved in with them in 2007 and
died in 2010. Therefore, during 2009 and 2010, Samantha primarily took care of England’s
mother. She said that during this time, while everyone else was at work or school, she and
England would have intercourse.
Samantha explained that she got a job at the OK Corral Western Store and that
England would be jealous of any male attention she received from customers. In October
2011, she was invited to the movies by her coworkers. She called England to ask if she
could go, and he told her that she had to bring home the car she had driven to work. She
said that she dropped it off and left again with her friend without telling England. While
she was in the movie, England “bl[ew] up her phone,” and demanded to know where she
was. He told her that he was going to beat her when she left the movie. She went home
with her friend that night and never went back to England’s house to live. She stated that
England asked her to come back home and that he had threatened to kill himself and
everyone in her family.
Debbie Keathley testified that she owned the store where Samantha worked.
Keathley stated,
The day she told me he was coming to the store, he confessed to me on the phone
about an improper relationship with Sam[antha]. He had called the store several
times that day. Earlier that day is when he had told her he was coming in. She
wouldn’t answer her cellphone or the store phone. So he finally called so many
times that other employees were answering it till I got on the phone. For whatever
reason, he would tell me about it. That they had more than a father-daughter
relationship. I told him that if he was telling me this to shame Sam[antha], he was
only making himself look bad. He started going into this story about how she owed
him. I told him it sounded like he bought the mobile home more for his
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convenience than hers. He got mad and threatened to come and take care of all of
us.
Cleo England, Danny Lawson, and Kenny Munn each testified that they had never
witnessed anything inappropriate between England and Samantha or England and Lindsay.
Dr. Kevin Claybrook testified that England was his urology patient. He explained that
England had erectile dysfunction, and he had treated England for prostate cancer. He said
that England had surgery in June 2010 and that he had a fairly rocky post-op course with
lots of chronic pain, problems with depression, and fairly significant problems with a
diminishment of sexual desire and erections. He opined that the amount of sex that had
been alleged in this case seemed inconsistent with England’s complaints. He said that in
order to have sex as many times as was testified to, England’s libido would have to have
been significant, and his problems had been with low libido, low testosterone, and erectile
dysfunction.
England testified regarding his work history and his life with Peggy and their
children. He denied ever having touched Samantha or Lindsay. On cross-examination,
England denied threatening to hang himself with an electrical cord, and he denied texting
a photograph to Samantha after he threatened to hang himself. No objection was made
when the State elicited this testimony from England.
Samantha was called by the State as a rebuttal witness, and England’s attorney
objected, stating,
Your Honor, we’re gonna, we’re gonna object to this rebuttal witness. I’m assuming
this is about the photograph, and, again, I’d like to renew my objections that the
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photograph is not in any way, or form, or fashion reliable. There’s no, there’s no
time date. There’s no, anything about it. I mean, we just have a picture of him.
The trial court allowed the State to lay a foundation for the picture through the witness,
and Samantha testified that shortly after she left home in October 2011, England had
contacted her and threatened to commit suicide and said that he could not live without her.
He texted her a picture of a cord or rope from a tree or deer stand that was fastened around
his neck. She emailed it to herself, saving it to her computer. The photograph was
identified and admitted into evidence over England’s objection. England then testified,
denying that he was trying to kill himself that day. He said that he took the picture and
sent it to his wife, not Samantha.
The jury found England guilty on all counts and sentenced him to concurrent terms
of imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction—fifteen years on the rape
charge and ten years on each incest charge. This appeal timely followed.
II. Applicable Law
Circuit courts have broad discretion in deciding evidentiary issues, and their rulings
on the admissibility of evidence are not reversed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion.
Conte v. State, 2015 Ark. 220, at 26, 463 S.W.3d 686, 702.
This court rejects the admission of inflammatory evidence where claims of relevance
are tenuous and prejudice is great, and expects the trial court to carefully weigh the
probative value of photographs against their prejudicial nature. See Camargo v. State,
327 Ark. 631, 637–38, 940 S.W.2d 464, 467 (1997) (holding that we require the
trial court to first consider whether such evidence, although relevant, creates a danger
of unfair prejudice, and then to determine whether the danger of unfair prejudice
substantially outweighs its probative value); see also Beed v. State, 271 Ark. 526, 609
S.W.2d 898 (1980). Relevant evidence may be excluded if its probative value is
substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Ark. R. Evid. 403.
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Evidence is admissible if it tends to shed light on any issue, to corroborate testimony,
or if it is essential in proving a necessary element of a case, is useful to enable a witness
to testify more effectively, or enable the jury to better understand testimony. Weger
v. State, 315 Ark. 555, 869 S.W.2d 688 (1994).
Id., 2015 Ark. 220, at 34, 463 S.W.3d at 706.
III. Admissibility of Evidence
England argues that the trial court committed reversible error by permitting the State
to introduce testimony and evidence of his alleged suicide attempt. He contends that the
testimony concerning the suicide attempt had limited, if any, probative value in a case where
the issue was whether he had sexually abused his stepdaughters. He claims that there was
an enormous risk of unfair prejudice based on the alleged suicide attempt. Ark. R. Evid.
403 (2015). He contends that courts in other jurisdictions have looked at the issue of
whether suicide attempts are admissible and claims that, largely, their decisions rest on
whether there truly was a suicide attempt and whether there was evidence that the suicide
attempt was in response to the charge or investigation, citing Kien v. State, 782 N.E.2d 398
(Ind. App. Ct. 2003); State v. Mann, 625 A.2d 1102 (N.J. 1993); Pettie v. State, 560 A.2d
577 (Ct. App. Md. 1989); and State v. Coudotte, 72 N.W. 913 (N.D. 1897). England argues
that, similar to the cases cited, the alleged suicide attempt here was not a real one. He
contends that there was no confirmation that he had actually attempted suicide. More
importantly, he claims that there was no connection between the alleged suicide attempt
and any sexual relationship he had with his stepdaughters. He asserts that the alleged attempt
was prior to any investigation or charge. Thus, he claims that the inherent risk of unfair
prejudice substantially outweighed the probative value of the evidence.
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The State maintains that England’s argument has no merit, and this court agrees. The
testimony that was elicited from Peggy, Lindsay, and Samantha evidenced how much
control and manipulation England had over their lives and included repeated threats to kill
himself in order to get them to behave in ways that he wanted. Samantha testified that he
had texted her a picture of himself with an electrical cord wrapped around his neck and that
he had said that he was going to end it because he could not live without her. As further
argued by the State, the evidence was introduced, not to show his unwillingness to endure
prosecution, but to show the level of control and manipulation his victims faced. Further,
the photograph and testimony of his hanging attempt were introduced by the State through
its rebuttal witness after England, on cross-examination, without objection, denied
attempting suicide and sending the picture. England’s objection to the introduction of the
photograph was not that the picture’s admission was violative of the circuit court’s order in
limine, but the objection was related only to the reliability of the photograph. Pursuant to
the objection, the circuit court properly required that a foundation be laid, and the State
complied.
The decision to admit or exclude evidence is within the sound discretion of
the circuit court, and we will not reverse that decision absent a manifest abuse of
discretion. E.g., Laswell v. State, 2012 Ark. 201, at 17, 404 S.W.3d 818, 828. The
abuse-of-discretion standard is a high threshold that does not simply require error in
the circuit court’s decision, but requires that the circuit court act improvidently,
thoughtlessly, or without due consideration. E.g., Grant v. State, 357 Ark. 91, 93,
161 S.W.3d 785, 786 (2004). In addition, we will not reverse a ruling on the
admission of evidence absent a showing of prejudice. E.g., Davis v. State, 350 Ark.
22, 38, 86 S.W.3d 872, 882 (2002).
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Maiden v. State, 2014 Ark. 294, at 4, 438 S.W.3d 263, 268. In light of the circuit court’s
ruling on England’s motion in limine, we hold that there was no abuse of discretion in
admitting the evidence.
Affirmed.
HARRISON and WHITEAKER, JJ., agree.
James Law Firm, by: William O. “Bill” James, Jr., for appellant.
Leslie Rutledge, Att’y Gen., by: Ashley Priest, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.
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