Huskey v. State
Huskey v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Jeremy Louis Huskey was tried before a Drew County Circuit Court jury and convicted of aggravated residential burglary and manslaughter. Appellant was sentenced to an effective prison term of fifty-five years plus a $ 10,000 fine. On appeal, appellant challenges (1) the sufficiency of the evidence to support that he was the person who committed these crimes; (2) the admission of the deceased victim's statement under the excited-utterance exception to the rule against hearsay; (3) the admission of that statement in violation of appellant's right to confront the witness against him; and (4) the admission of a prior bad act under Rule 404(b). We affirm.
We first consider the sufficiency-of-the-evidence argument. The victim, sixty-seven-year-old George Flowers, was in his residence when someone broke in and beat him severely. George later died from the blunt-force trauma to his head. Appellant challenges whether the State presented sufficient evidence to identify him as the perpetrator.
The standard of appellate review is well settled. The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Estrada v. State ,
The evidence in this case is reviewed in the light most favorable to the State. Christy Johnson had allowed George to live with her for about a year, but she wanted him to move. Christy's brother John Etheridge lived in a house about seventy-five yards away from Christy's house. Christy moved to John's house while she waited for George to find somewhere else to live. Christy was dating thirty-eight-year-old appellant, and John had *537seen appellant drive a small blue car when he came over to visit Christy. John had heard Christy complaining about George to appellant, who told Christy that "if you want him out, I'll get him out." John remembered that appellant had gone over to confront George, during which encounter appellant "b* *ch slapped" George.
About two weeks later, at around 10:30 at night, John saw the same car being driven up the driveway and stopping at Christy's house; the car departed less than ten minutes later. John and his son went outside and saw George on the ground between the two houses; they helped him up and to John's house, where John's mother tended to George's bloody wounds. George had a deep cut on his left elbow; his nose was cut and appeared nearly torn off; he had a head injury behind his left that looked like he had been hit with a tire tool; his bottom lip appeared to be fileted; his hands were torn up. George was upset and crying, and John asked George what happened.
George told John that appellant had come to the door, stormed inside, hit him in the face, knocked him against the entertainment center, caused him to fall on the floor, and kicked him repeatedly. George knew it was appellant because, although his attacker had a shirt wrapped around his face, he recognized appellant's voice; appellant had told George to "get the f* *k out of Christy's house." John called 911 and reported that appellant had beaten up George. Law enforcement officers responded to the call and took pictures of George's injuries, but George refused medical treatment. A sheriff's deputy affirmed that George told him who had assaulted him. A few days later, George's condition deteriorated, he was hospitalized, and he ultimately died. An autopsy revealed all the injuries to George's thin body and the damage to his head. His death was ruled a homicide because he died as a result of blunt-force head trauma.
Christy admitted that she had initially lied to the police, telling them that she and appellant had been at his aunt's house, but in truth, appellant had gone to see George to convince him to move out. Appellant, who had been drinking, came back about fifteen minutes later and told Christy that George "would leave now." She said that appellant wanted to get rid of George so he could move in with Christy. Christy later asked appellant why he had done that to George, and appellant replied, "You wanted him out of your house." Christy said that she initially lied because appellant told her to, and she was afraid of him.
Appellant challenges the State's proof by arguing that there were no witnesses to the attack, there was no DNA to connect him to the attack, and the victim identified appellant only by his voice and not by his face. This argument is unpersuasive. The victim positively identified appellant as the man who had severely beat him, and appellant admitted to Christy that he had attacked George to get him to move. We consider only the evidence that supports the verdict, and credibility findings are for the jury to make. We hold that there is substantial evidence to support the jury's finding that appellant was guilty of aggravated residential burglary and manslaughter.
The remaining three points on appeal challenge the admission of certain testimony. On appellate review of evidentiary rulings, we recognize that a circuit court has broad discretion, and we will not reverse an evidentiary ruling absent an abuse of discretion. Hopkins v. State ,
Appellant first challenges the circuit court's finding that George's statement to John identifying appellant as the perpetrator fell within the excited-utterance exception to the rule against hearsay. Arkansas Rule of Evidence 803(2) provides that an "excited utterance" is a statement relating to a startling event or condition made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by the event or condition. Factors to consider are the lapse of time, the age of the declarant, the physical and mental condition of the declarant, the characteristics of the event, and the subject matter of the statement. Wright v. State ,
Minutes after George, a sixty-seven-year-old man, had been severely beaten, he was upset and crying, lying on the ground, bleeding, trying to reach his neighbor's house. George required physical assistance to get up and move. When asked what happened, George immediately reported what appellant had done to him and why he knew it was appellant. Whether a declarant makes statements in response to questions is not dispositive of whether they are the product of the exciting event. Bates v. State ,
Appellant next contends that the circuit court abused its discretion in permitting George's statements to John to be relayed to the jury because he was deprived of his constitutional right to confront this witness against him. Appellant fails to persuade. The circuit court did not address the confrontation-clause argument, and defense counsel did not request a ruling on that aspect of his argument. Because appellant failed to obtain a ruling on this argument, it is not preserved for appellate review. See Bertrand v. State ,
*539Edison v. State ,
Lastly, appellant contends that the circuit court abused its discretion in permitting John to testify about appellant "b* *ch slapp[ing]" George a couple of weeks prior to the attack. He asserts that this testimony was impermissible under Arkansas Rule of Evidence 404(b). This rule provides that evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith, but it may admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Alternatively, he argues that pursuant to Rule 403, any probative value of the testimony was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or confusion of the issues. In sum, appellant argues that the slapping incident was too dissimilar to the subsequent attack to be relevant here and was used only to portray appellant as a bad person, resulting in unfair prejudice. Appellant has not demonstrated an abuse of discretion.
Any evidence that is relevant to explain the act, show a motive, or illustrate the accused's state of mind may be independently relevant and admissible. Lard v. State ,
Affirmed.
Harrison and Glover, JJ., agree.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.