Brown v. State

2021 Ark. 16

614 S.W.3d 820

Anthony Dewayne BROWN, Appellant

v.STATE of Arkansas, Appellee

No. CR-20-88

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Opinion Delivered: February 4, 2021

Jimmy C. Morris, Jr., Little Rock, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Christian Harris, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

RHONDA K. WOOD, Associate Justice

Anthony Brown appeals his conviction for first-degree murder, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Brown poured gasoline on Jessie Burton and set him on fire. Burton later died at the hospital. Brown appeals solely the sufficiency of the evidence on causation because a contributing cause of Burton's death was heart disease. We affirm.

On New Year's Eve, Brown crossed paths with a group that included Burton. The men exchanged words, and the interaction included threats. Brown drove away and returned with a shotgun. Brown did not use the gun but left again only to return later with a handgun. At this point, Burton's friends interceded, and Brown went home. Burton and his group of friends relocated to a friend's trailer. Over an hour later, Brown returned and found Burton sitting on the steps outside the trailer, approached Burton, and threw a cup of gasoline on him. The two men began to struggle when Brown lit a cigarette lighter and ignited Burton's upper torso, arms, and face. Burton died less than two hours later at the hospital.

Brown was convicted of first-degree murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment. On appeal, Brown argues that insufficient evidence supported the first-degree murder conviction because he did not "cause" Burton's death. He contends Burton's underlying heart condition caused his death and the fact that Burton died almost two hours after being lit on fire means the causes could not be "concurrent." Lastly, he argues that the State did not prove causation beyond a reasonable doubt.

When we review a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we consider whether there is substantial evidence to support the verdict. Fink v. State , 2015 Ark. 331, at 3, 469 S.W.3d 785, 787. Substantial evidence is evidence that would compel a conclusion one way or the other beyond suspicion or conjecture. Collins v. State , 2020 Ark. 371, 3, 610 S.W.3d 653, 655. We evaluate the facts of record in the light most favorable to the State. Id.

In criminal matters, "causation may be found when the result would not have occurred but for the conduct of the defendant operating either alone or concurrently with another cause unless: (1) the concurrent cause was clearly sufficient to produce the result; and (2) the conduct of the defendant was clearly insufficient to produce the result." Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-205 (Repl. 2013). One whose wrongdoing is a concurrent proximate cause of an injury is criminally liable as if his wrongdoing was the sole proximate cause of the harm done. Nichols v. State , 2017 Ark. 129, 517 S.W.3d 404. For example, "if poison is administered to a man debilitated by multiple diseases, it is a but-for cause of his death even if those diseases played a part in his demise, so long as, without the incremental effect of the poison, he would have lived." Burrage v. United States , 571 U.S. 204, 134 S.Ct. 881, 187 L.Ed.2d 715 (2014).

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, Jeremiah Williams testified that Brown threw a cup of gasoline on Burton and subsequently "lit him on fire." Lameteca Caldwell testified that "he [Brown] lit the lighter to Jesse [Burton]." At trial, the medical examiner, Dr. Adam...