Cone v. State

2022 Ark. 201

654 S.W.3d 648

Shawn CONE, Appellant

v.STATE of Arkansas, Appellee

No. CR-22-114

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Opinion Delivered: November 10, 2022

Erin W. Lewis, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: David L. Eanes, Jr., Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

BARBARA W. WEBB, Justice

Shawn Cone appeals from a jury verdict in the Craighead County Circuit Court finding him guilty of capital murder, abuse of a corpse, and theft of property for which he received consecutive sentences in the Arkansas Department of Corrections of life without parole, twenty years, and twelve years, respectively. He also was convicted of two counts of misdemeanor theft of property, the victim's cell phone and her 2016 Range Rover, for which he received one-year sentences.

On appeal, Cone only challenges his felony convictions. He argues that the circuit court (1) abused its discretion in violation of Arkansas Rules of Evidence 402 and 403 by admitting into evidence a list of countries that do not have extradition treaties with the United States; (2) erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence seized from his backpack because the warrant was not supported by probable cause, the warrant was a "General Warrant," and the court erroneously relied on his warrantless search waiver; (3) abused its discretion by admitting into evidence photos taken by the medical examiner; and (4) erred in denying his directed-verdict motion on the charges of capital murder, abuse of a corpse, and theft of the victim's credit cards. Our jurisdiction is proper pursuant to Rule 1-2(a) of the Rules of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of Arkansas. We affirm.

I. Synopsis

This case arises from the December 2, 2019 murder of Alissa Reynolds in her Jonesboro residence, the subsequent abuse of her corpse, and postmortem use of her cell phone, credit cards, and automobile. Ms. Reynolds's live-in boyfriend, appellant Shawn G. Cone, a parolee, was charged with these crimes. Facebook messages showed that Ms. Reynolds ended the relationship on December 2.

The victim's body was discovered by police while conducting a second welfare check on December 8, 2019. Earlier in the day, police knocked on Ms. Reynolds's door but left when there was no answer. In the second welfare check later that evening, the officers approached the door and were greeted by the stench of decomposing flesh. There was no sign of a forced entry, and no one answered the door. Once police breached the door, Ms. Reynolds was found on a chaise lounge, covered in layers of bedding. It was subsequently determined that Ms. Reynolds was dressed in the same clothing that she had worn to work, and she was still wearing her work ID badge. Blood and other bodily fluids had soaked the towels and a blanket left beneath the chair.

Ms. Reynolds was last seen alive at work on December 2, 2019. Security cameras at her place of employment showed her leaving the Axis manufacturing facility in Paragould at 5:03 p.m. She was dressed in jeans and a pink pull-over top.

The victim's neighbor, Byron Holt, testified that he had a surveillance system set up at his residence during the week of December 2 through December 8, 2019. Before Ms. Reynolds returned home from work, Cone was recorded driving his Chevrolet Tahoe from the garage. When Ms. Reynolds arrived home at 5:38 p.m., she parked her white 2016 Range Rover in the garage. Cone arrived on foot ten minutes later. At 7:00 p.m., the Range Rover backed out of the garage. A short time later, Cone arrived alone at the Elks Lodge in Jonesboro. Cone returned to Ms. Reynolds's residence at 9:59 p.m.

Cone was shown to have been driving Ms. Reynolds's Range Rover and using her credit cards and cell phone, beginning shortly after what was determined to be the time of her death. On December 2, John Wood observed Cone driving Ms. Reynolds's Range Rover to the Elks Lodge, just after 7:00 p.m. Jeffery Powell testified that he saw Cone on December 6, at his residence, driving the Range Rover that day. Daniel Neal testified that Cone purchased beer at the Country Liquor Store using Ms. Reynolds's credit card on December 2. The manager of a Sprint store, Stevie Ivy, likewise testified that on December 6, Cone purchased a new cell phone, using Ms. Reynolds's credit card to cover the activation fee. On December 3 and 4, a call was placed on Ms. Reynolds's cell phone to her employer by a man who identified himself as Shawn, and claimed she was too ill to go to work. Testifying in his own defense, Cone confirmed that he had made these calls. He also had misled the victim's family and friends about her not being alive.

An autopsy revealed that Ms. Reynolds had been stabbed eighteen times and that she had also sustained numerous "cuts" caused by slashing. The medical examiner opined that the stab wounds were the cause of her death. It was determined that some of the wounds, particularly the wounds on her hands, were defensive in nature. Additionally, the proximity of some of the stab wounds indicated to the medical examiner that they were inflicted while Ms. Reynolds was not moving because she was either unconscious or dead. According to the medical examiner, the state of decomposition of Ms. Reynolds's body indicated that she had been dead for more than a few days, which was consistent with her having died on December 2. Cone's DNA was found under Ms. Reynolds's fingernails.

On December 9, Cone was apprehended in Key West, Florida. Upon traveling to Florida, Detective Brian Arnold retrieved Cone's personal possessions, including a backpack, and transported the items to Jonesboro. Detective Arnold obtained a series of warrants encompassing the property in Cone's possession when he was detained by Florida authorities. The contents of the backpack included a printed list entitled "Countries with no extradition treaty with US" with a handwritten "CUBA" added and circled. Cone unsuccessfully moved prior to trial to suppress the contents of the backpack. Jonesboro Police Detective Keri Varner, an expert in cell phone data extraction, testified that she recovered Google searches on a phone used by Cone that queried about countries that do not have extradition treaties with the United States.

Prior to leaving Jonesboro, Cone had visited with friends Donny and Gina Tilton and told them that he was moving to Key West "because there was nothing left here for him." He showed the Tiltons a printed list of countries that have no extradition treaties with the United States. Cone told Gina that he wanted to leave the country because he did not want to go back to prison. According to Gina, she did not know the victim but asked Cone about his relationship to her. She testified, "I actually asked if Alissa was his girlfriend, and he stated that, no, she was not. She actually probably hated him. She was just a very good person that knew if she kicked him out, he would be homeless, and so she had let him have a room in her house."

Cone also met with Stephanie Fagaley, a former girlfriend. Cone likewise talked about nonextradition treaty countries, including Cuba, the Maldives, and maybe Morocco. He said he was going to Key West, which Fagaley assumed meant "he was going to Cuba." Cone told her he wanted to leave because he did not want to go back to prison.

When Cone testified in his defense, he admitted that he could be seen on the neighbor's December 2, 2019 recording, approaching the home on foot and entering through the garage that evening. He also admitted that Ms. Reynolds was murdered that night but claimed he returned home from running errands to find the back door kicked in and Reynolds "a bloody mess." According to Cone, he did not call the police because he "knew what the automatic assumption was going to be." Instead, he covered Ms. Reynolds's body with blankets and pillows. On cross-examination, Cone further admitted that he and Ms. Reynolds got into an argument on the day of the murder. He acknowledged numerous Facebook messages on December 2, including Ms. Reynolds's message that she was "done with him." Cone admitted that he was the person seen in the neighbor's recordings, coming and going from Ms. Reynolds's home in the days after her murder. He admitted that he continued to stay in her home after her death until the police arrived to conduct the first welfare check on December 8, 2019. He testified, "[A]fter that, I thought it's either I'm leaving or I'm going to jail, so I hurriedly pack my things. I say goodbye [to Ms. Reynolds and their dogs] and I leave." He left his passport behind in a vehicle in Jonesboro. Cone also admitted using Ms. Reynolds's phone after her death to text and to communicate with her friends and family, pretending to be her, as well as lying about Ms. Reynolds's being in a car wreck and hospitalized. He admitted calling Ms. Reynolds's work supervisor, Melissa Henson, on December 3 and 4, the days directly following the murder, to report that Ms. Reynolds had the flu, and texting updates about her absence. He admitted that leaving the country was a "possibility of a plan at first" or "still a possibility," when he told the Tiltons about it. Cone admitted using Ms. Reynolds's Range Rover after her death, and he parked and left it, heavily damaged, at the Memphis airport. He also admitted using Ms. Reynolds's credit cards after her death.

Although this case was made largely with circumstantial evidence, Cone was convicted as charged.

II. Sufficiency of the Evidence

In accordance with our usual practice, before we take up Cone's points on appeal concerning evidentiary issues, we first consider Cone's argument that the circuit court erred when it denied his directed-verdict motion on the charges of capital murder, abuse of a corpse, and theft of Ms. Reynolds's credit cards. In pertinent part, at trial, Cone made the following directed-verdict motions: As to count one, capital murder, Cone argued lack of any "direct evidence that there has been any premeditated or...