Collins v. State

2020 Ark. 371

610 S.W.3d 653

Michael COLLINS, Appellant

v.STATE of Arkansas, Appellee

No. CR-20-249

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Opinion Delivered: November 12, 2020

Jeff Rosenzweig, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Christopher R. Warthen, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

SHAWN A. WOMACK, Associate Justice

Appellant Michael Collins and his accomplice, William Alexander, were charged with three counts of capital murder and one count of aggravated assault. Collins was tried individually and convicted by a Pulaski County Circuit Court jury on all counts. For reversal, Collins argues the circuit court (1) erred in denying his motion for directed verdict, and (2) abused its discretion in admitting autopsy photographs after he offered to stipulate the cause of death. We affirm.

I. Background

On December 4, 2017, Collins and his half-brother, Alexander, broke into Mariah Cunningham's apartment in search of money they believed to be in her possession. Unable to locate the money, the two men waited for Cunningham to return home. Cunningham returned approximately two hours later with her children, four-year-old Elijah Fisher and five-year-old Aleyah Fisher. Upon entering the apartment, Elijah and Aleyah were repeatedly stabbed by Collins to coerce Cunningham into revealing the money's location. When Cunningham failed to disclose the money's whereabouts, Collins cut her throat and left her and the children dead in the apartment. Collins and Alexander stole a television, video-game console, and Cunningham's white Honda Accord. Shortly thereafter, Collins abandoned the Honda and took a bus to Chicago to stay with his aunt. On December 8, 2017, U.S. Marshals arrested Collins at his aunt's home in Chicago. With Collins were a pair of bloody shoes. DNA testing later established that the blood found on the shoes matched that of all three victims.

While in a federal holding facility in Colorado, Collins confessed the murders to his cellmate, Marino Scott. He told Scott he went to Cunningham's apartment to get money from her. Because Cunningham did not give him money, Collins said he made Cunningham watch as he cut her children's heads off with a knife. Collins also expressed concern that the blood found on his shoes would link him to the murders.

Collins made two subsequent confessions. First, at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility, he threatened jail officials who were attempting to remove him from his cell by telling them he had killed three people so he could handle them. Second, Collins confessed to his girlfriend on a recorded phone call made from jail. He told her "the whole thing happened" and went on to say he "did everything. Did this whole nine."

At trial, the State presented a felony-murder theory, with aggravated robbery as the underlying felony. The jury found Collins guilty of three counts of capital murder and one count of aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on each of the three capital-murder counts. Collins waived jury sentencing on the aggravated-robbery count, and the court sentenced him to an additional 360 months' imprisonment.

II. Discussion

A. Directed-Verdict Motion

For his first point on appeal, Collins argues the circuit court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict on the capital murder charges involving the deaths of Elijah and Aleyah. Specifically, he contends the State failed to prove he was guilty of the underlying felony of aggravated robbery against the children. According to Collins, the children could not have been robbed because the property stolen from the apartment belonged to their mother.

On appeal, we treat a motion for directed verdict as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Woods v. State , 2019 Ark. 62, 567 S.W.3d 494. In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, this court determines whether the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Starling v. State , 2016 Ark. 20, 480 S.W.3d 158. Substantial evidence is evidence that is forceful enough to compel a conclusion one way or the other beyond suspicion or conjecture. Anderson v. State , 2011 Ark. 461, 385 S.W.3d 214. The evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the State, considering only evidence that supports the verdict.

Mercouri v. State , 2016 Ark. 37, 480 S.W.3d 864.

Collins was convicted of one count of aggravated robbery and three counts of capital murder. A person commits aggravated robbery if he commits a robbery and is armed with a deadly weapon or inflicts or attempts to inflict death or serious physical injury upon another person. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-12-103(a)(1), (3) (Repl. 2013). A robbery is committed when a person, with the purpose of committing felony or misdemeanor theft, employs or threatens to immediately employ physical force upon another person. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-12-102(a). Collins committed capital-felony murder if he committed or attempted to commit aggravated robbery and, in the course of and in furtherance of the aggravated robbery, Collins or an accomplice caused the death of the victims under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-10-101(a)(1)(A)(vi), (B).

In a capital-felony murder case, the State must first prove the felony, so the felony becomes an essential element of the murder charge. Ross v. State , 346 Ark. 225, 57 S.W.3d 152 (2001). Thus, a felony-murder conviction requires proof that the death was caused in the course of committing the aggravated robbery. See Williams v. State , 2017 Ark. 287, 528 S.W.3d 839. A strict causal relationship between the felony and the murder is unnecessary; rather, "the State need only prove that the robbery and the murder were parts of the same transaction or occurred within the same brief interval." See Norris v. State , 2010 Ark. 174, at 6, 368 S.W.3d 52, 56 (quoting Clay v. State , 324 Ark. 9, 12, 919 S.W.2d 190,191–92 (1996) ).

Collins now urges this court to extend to his case the rationale of Mitchell v. State , 281 Ark. 112, 661 S.W.2d 390 (1983). In Mitchell , an employee at a pizza restaurant gave robbers money belonging to the business as well as his personal property, resulting in two convictions of aggravated robbery. This court set aside the conviction and sentence for one of the counts of aggravated robbery, observing that under the current statute, "aggravated robbery was complete with the threat of physical harm and the intent to commit theft. Therefore, the same proof was required for each of the counts of robbery." Id. at 113–14, 661 S.W.2d at 392. Collins asserts Mitchell supports his contention that property taken from the apartment could not have been robbed from multiple persons. We note Collins did not argue in his directed-verdict motion that Mitchell should extend to his case. Further, Mitchell undermines the point Collins is attempting to make––that aggravated robbery could not be proved with regard to Elijah and Aleyah because they did not own the stolen property. We stated that "[o]wnership is not a necessary element of proof for aggravated robbery." Id. at 114, 661 S.W.2d at 392 ; see also Williams v. State , 351 Ark. 215, 225, 91 S.W.3d 54, 60 (2002) ("[N]o transfer of property needs to take place to complete the offense."). Consequently, the fact that the stolen property did not belong to the children is of no moment. The State needed only to prove Collins had the requisite intent to commit the robbery during the brief interval in which the murders occurred.

Notably, Collins concedes there is sufficient evidence of his involvement in the murders, and Scott testified that Collins told him he went to Cunningham's apartment to get money. Following the murders, Collins took a television, video-game console, and car from the premises. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, there is substantial evidence that Collins killed Elijah and Aleyah in the course of and in furtherance of the robbery. Therefore, we hold the circuit court did not err in denying Collins's motion for directed verdict.

B. Admission of Photographs

Collins next argues the circuit court abused its discretion by refusing to exclude autopsy photographs. He contends the circuit court should have excluded the photographs based on his offer to stipulate the cause of death and that the court's failure to do so was prejudicial under Arkansas Rule of Evidence 403. Collins further adds the photographs were grotesque and cumulative of crime scene photographs.

We have held the admission of photographs is a matter left to the circuit court's sound discretion, and we will not reverse absent an abuse of that discretion. Airsman v. State , 2014 Ark. 500, 451 S.W.3d 565. When photographs are helpful to explain testimony, they are ordinarily admissible. Id. The mere fact that a photograph is inflammatory or cumulative is not, standing alone, sufficient reason to exclude it. Breeden v. State , 2013 Ark. 145, 427 S.W.3d 5. Even when the cause of death is undisputed, a defendant may not prevent the admission of photographs merely by conceding the facts portrayed therein. E.g. , Smart v. State , 352 Ark. 522, 104 S.W.3d 386 (2003).

Collins argues Old Chief v. United States , 519 U.S. 172, 117 S.Ct. 644, 136 L.Ed.2d 574 (1997), required the circuit court to accept his stipulation as to the cause of death. In Old Chief , the Supreme Court reviewed a felon-in-possession case wherein the defendant had offered to stipulate his status as a convicted felon, but the government was nevertheless allowed to present the order of judgment and conviction for the defendant's prior conviction. The Court reversed, holding the danger of unfair prejudice resulting from the introduction of evidence of the name or nature of the prior offense was too great when the defendant offered to stipulate his status as a convicted felon. Id. at 191–92, 117 S.Ct. 644. The Court observed, "The most the jury needs to know is that the...