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Williams v. State

Supreme Court of Arkansas
Nov 19, 2009
2009 Ark. 582 (Ark. 2009)

Opinion

CR 09-355

Opinion Delivered November 19, 2009

Appeal from the Desha County Circuit Court, NO. CR2007-50-4, Honorable Don, Edward Glover, Judge, Order to Supplement the Record Issued.


Appellant Roderick Williams appeals from his convictions for capital murder, kidnapping, felon in possession of a firearm, first-degree domestic battery, and first-degree child endangerment and his sentence to life imprisonment without parole. Among his points on appeal is a claim that he was prejudiced by the circuit judge's erroneous admission of hearsay evidence. Williams claims that the hearsay evidence was "manifestly prejudicial because it constituted the only evidence heard by the jury that pertained to [his] state of mind just prior to the murder."

In response to this point, the State has argued that it asserted alternative theories of capital murder at trial — that is, that the jury could have found Williams acted with the premeditated and deliberated purpose of causing the death of another person under § 5-10-101(a)(4) or that he caused the death of another person in the course of and in furtherance of the felony of kidnapping under § 5-10-101(a)(1) — and that Williams cannot demonstrate prejudice based on the fact that the jury returned a general verdict of "guilty" on the capital murder charge.

In order for this court to conduct an adequate review of this point on appeal, we must have before us the jury's verdict forms. However, these forms have not been included in the record presented to this court. Pursuant to Rule 6(e) of the Arkansas Rules of Appellate Procedure-Civil, we order that the record on appeal be supplemented by a certified supplemental record to include the verdict forms within fifteen days of the issuance of this opinion. See Anderson v. State, 351 Ark. 675, 100 S.W.3d 48 (2003); Snell v. State, 290 Ark. 184, 717 S.W.2d 818 (1986).


Summaries of

Williams v. State

Supreme Court of Arkansas
Nov 19, 2009
2009 Ark. 582 (Ark. 2009)
Case details for

Williams v. State

Case Details

Full title:Roderick WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee

Court:Supreme Court of Arkansas

Date published: Nov 19, 2009

Citations

2009 Ark. 582 (Ark. 2009)