Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 820 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION IV No. CACR10-738 Opinion Delivered December 8, 2010 APPEAL FROM THE JEFFERSON JEREMY GIPSON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT APPELLANT [CR-2008-761-5] V. HONORABLE JODI RAINES DENNIS, JUDGE STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE AFFIRMED DAVID M. GLOVER, Judge Appellant, Jeremy Gipson, was tried by a jury and found guilty of the offenses of residential burglary and misdemeanor arson. 1 He was sentenced to twenty years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and fined $15,000 on the residential-burglary conviction and twelve months in the county jail and fined $1000 on the arson conviction. As his sole point of appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the residential-burglary conviction, contending specifically that there was insufficient evidence corroborating his confession. He does not challenge the arson conviction. We affirm. 1 He was charged with two counts of capital murder, aggravated residential burglary (which the State reduced to residential burglary during the trial), felony arson, theft of property, and two counts of aggravated robbery.
Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 820 Standard of Review In considering a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, considering only the evidence that supports the verdict. Freeman v. State, 2010 Ark. App. 90. We affirm if the verdict is supported by substantial evidence. Id. Substantial evidence is evidence that is forceful enough to compel a conclusion one way or the other beyond suspicion or conjecture. Id. Appellant’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence focuses on his contention that there was insufficient corroboration of his confession. We disagree. As we explained in Freeman v. State, supra at 2–3: A confession of a defendant, unless made in open court, is insufficient to warrant a conviction unless it is accompanied with other proof that the offense was committed. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-89-111(d) (Repl. 2005). Known as the corpus delicti rule, this statute requires the State to establish (1) the existence of an injury or harm constituting a crime and (2) that the injury or harm was caused by someone’s criminal activity. Barnes v. State, 346 Ark. 91, 55 S.W.3d 271 (2001). However, it is not necessary to establish any further connection between the crime and the defendant. Id. Further, the corroborating evidence need not be sufficient, by itself, to sustain the conviction. Morgan v. State, 286 Ark. 264, 691 S.W.2d 164 (1985); Bryant v. State, 16 Ark. App. 45, 696 S.W.2d 773 (1985). . . . . The corpus delicti rule does not require the State to corroborate that the defendant committed the crime charged; it merely requires a showing that the crime occurred. Appellant contends that the “corroboration must be sufficient standing alone to establish the commission of the offense and to connect the defendant with it.” In making that contention, however, he relies upon accomplice cases, e.g., Andrews v. State, 344 Ark. 606, 42 S.W.3d 484 (2001), and Johnson v. State, 303 Ark. 12, 792 S.W.2d 863 (1990), rather than confession cases. -2-
Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 820 As set forth above, the corroboration of a confession requires only evidence that shows the commission of the crime; the corroborating evidence does not have to connect the defendant to the crime and it does not have to be sufficient by itself to sustain the conviction. Freeman v. State, supra. A person commits residential burglary if he or she enters or remains unlawfully in a residential occupiable structure of another person with the purpose of committing in the residential occupiable structure any offense punishable by imprisonment. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-201(a)(1) (Repl. 2006). The audiotape of appellant’s confession was played for the jury. In it, he acknowledged that his Miranda rights had been read to him. He stated that he and James Jordan were involved in the incident at 32nd and Pennsylvania Streets; Jordan parked his car and they both exited; Jordan had a baseball bat and was wearing gloves; they went to a window on the side of the house where he lifted Jordan into the house; he gave Jordan the bat through the window; Jordan was inside for about ten or fifteen minutes and it sounded as if someone was getting hit; about five seconds after “it” stopped, Jordan opened the door, and showed him the way to the bedroom; there was an elderly guy lying beside his wife; the man opened his eyes and “it was like he was reaching for a pistol or something”; and he (appellant) hit the man “again like three or four more times” with the bat, once in the head and twice in the chest. He explained that the “old woman was already hit and she was not making no moves.” He said that Jordan got a few TVs out of the house, a black .25 Berreta, and an old 20- or 12-gauge shotgun. Appellant stated that he did not hear from Jordan again until a couple of days -3-
Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 820 later when Jordan told him that he had gone “back out to the house and that the people were dead.” He said that he told Jordan they needed to “go handle that,” and that the only solution he could think of was to burn everything down; and that they entered the house through an open door and poured gas everywhere. Finally, he stated that he and Jordan had removed from the house Coca-Cola soft drinks, coins, and, later, even the victims’ car—driving it to Star City, removing the license plate, wiping it down, and abandoning it. The State presented sufficient evidence to corroborate appellant’s confession by establishing that the crime to which appellant confessed actually occurred. It included, that on August 27, 2008, the fire department had responded to a fire at the home of Cleophas and Minnie Boyd and found their bodies in their bed. The responding police officers were able to visually determine that the couple had been beaten because they had lacerations on their heads, the bed was soaked with blood, and there was blood spatter on the headboard and on the walls. Dr. Frank Peretti of the Arkansas State Crime Lab testified that the Boyds’ autopsies established that they had suffered blunt-force injuries to their heads and bodies and that their deaths had been ruled homicides. In addition, a search of appellant’s house, conducted pursuant to a warrant, produced a 12-gauge shotgun and shells, the Boyds’ car license plate, a carton of Coca-Cola soft drinks, and a bag of coins. Affirmed. PITTMAN and GRUBER, JJ., agree. -4-
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