Christopher L. Washington, Jr. v. State of Arkansas

Cite as 2020 Ark. App. 317
Reason: I attest to the
accuracy and integrity of this
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
document DIVISION III
Date: 2021-06-17 11:35:26
Foxit PhantomPDF Version: No. CR-19-954
9.7.5

Opinion Delivered: May 27, 2020
CHRISTOPHER L. WASHINGTON,
JR.
APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE ASHLEY
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
V. [NO. 02CR-18-197]

STATE OF ARKANSAS
APPELLEE HONORABLE ROBERT BYNUM
GIBSON, JR., JUDGE

AFFIRMED

RITA W. GRUBER, Chief Judge

Appellant Christopher Washington was convicted of aggravated robbery and theft of

property and sentenced to an aggregate of forty years’ imprisonment. On appeal, appellant

challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions. We affirm.

On December 4, 2018, appellant was charged as a habitual offender with aggravated

robbery and theft of property (greater than $5000 and less than $25,000). These charges

arose out of an alleged October 2018 incident in which Elizabeth Hill’s car was stolen after

she had been beaten, shot, and thrown out of her car. A jury trial was held on July 23, 2019.

Officer John Pryor of the Arkansas State Police came into contact with the victim in

the early morning hours of October 28, 2018. He recalled sitting outside his home drinking

coffee when he heard someone from a distance calling for help. He got his equipment, left

in his patrol car to investigate, and called the Ashley County Sheriff’s Department for

backup. He then saw Hill limping down a gravel back road. Pryor testified that she appeared
to have been in a fight, explaining that she was “covered in blood,” looked like she had

“road rash all over her,” and “couldn’t hardly stand.”

The next witness to testify was the victim. Hill testified that she had been using

methamphetamine for three years and knew appellant because she bought drugs from him.

She explained that on October 28, she contacted appellant on Facebook Messenger just after

midnight and learned appellant only had marijuana. Although Hill wanted

methamphetamine, she asked if he could front the money for the marijuana because she

could not cash a check until the following morning. Hill testified that appellant told her to

come to his home. She drove her 2015 Nissan Juke (valued at more than $5000) to

appellant’s house and messaged him around 4:45 a.m. to let him know she was in his

driveway. Hill stated that she went inside the house and met a woman named Stephanie.

Appellant told Hill that Stephanie did not want to give her the marijuana without the

money. Hill explained that Stephanie came out of the house, got in Hill’s car, and told Hill

she needed a ride. Hill agreed because she was hoping to get the drugs. Appellant and Seth

Collins also got in Hill’s car. Hill said that appellant told her where to drive, taking her to a

gravel road, and then asked her to stop because he had lost something. Hill testified that

when she stopped, appellant “leaned over and wrapped his arm around my neck, and started

choking me and hitting me in the face.” Hill stated that Seth then got out of the backseat

and pulled her out of the car by her feet and dragged her to a ditch, Seth threw her cell

phone in the woods, and Seth and appellant began punching and kicking her. Hill was then

dragged back to the car and put in the backseat. Seth drove, Stephanie was in the backseat,

and Hill was in appellant’s lap in the backseat. Hill said that her legs were hanging out of

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the door because her daughter’s car seat was in the way. She testified that appellant had his

arm over her eyes and held her nose and pushed her mouth shut, which caused her to pass

out. Before passing out, Hill heard a conversation about how they were going to kill her.

She recalled Seth saying she did not “deserve a bullet, to just throw [her] out the car, and

that he would let [appellant] know when he hit sixty miles an hour.” Hill testified that when

appellant pushed her out of the car, she rolled down the road and heard two gunshots but

did not realize she had been shot. Hill explained that the others kept driving, and she began

to walk back the way they came and screamed for help. Hill thought her arm was broken

but later realized she had been shot.

Officer Josh Pollock of the Ashley County Sheriff’s Department testified that he was

involved in the aggravated-robbery investigation involving Hill. He stated that after Hill’s

car had been taken, they put out a notice to “be on the lookout” for her vehicle. He was

later contacted by the Little Rock Police Department.

Little Rock police officer Richard Baxter testified that he came into contact with

appellant in October 2018 at Marilyn Avenue and Valentine Street. He stated that a white

Nissan Juke that had been reported stolen from Ashley County was in the vicinity of

appellant. Baxter said that appellant was taken into custody and that one of Hill’s credit cards

was found in appellant’s boot when he was searched.

The next witness to testify for the State was Stephanie Rollow. 1 Stephanie testified

that Seth asked her to hang out and that Hill was driving when Seth and appellant picked

1
She was also charged with aggravated robbery and theft of property in connection
with the incident.

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her up from her grandmother’s house. Stephanie said they were just driving around with

appellant directing Hill where to go. Stephanie explained that appellant told Hill to stop,

put the car in park, and began to choke Hill. She stated that appellant and Seth dragged Hill

to the ditch and began to beat her up, which she described as punching her in the face.

Stephanie recalled hearing a gunshot after which Hill was dragged back into the car. She

said that Seth was driving, and appellant was holding Hill with her face toward his chest.

Stephanie said appellant asked Seth to speed up so he could throw Hill out of the vehicle.

She testified that appellant threw Hill out of the car. When asked about appellant’s hands

being around Hill’s face, Stephanie thought he was trying to keep Hill from being loud and

screaming but was not sure if that would keep Hill from breathing. Stephanie explained that

after Hill was thrown out of her car, they drove to Pine Bluff, but she did not see a gun

until they arrived, adding that Seth had the gun.

The next witness was Brandon Jacobs, an emergency medical technician for the

Crossett Fire Department. He said that he treated two of Hill’s wounds as gunshot wounds

by packing and wrapping them to control the bleeding.

The last prosecution witness was Officer Phillip Roberts of the Ashley County

Sheriff’s Department, who responded to the scene. He recalled Hill’s telling him that she

was thrown out of the car and “shot at twice.”

After the State rested, appellant moved for a directed verdict on the charge of

aggravated robbery:

I do have a motion for a directed verdict on the charge of aggravated robbery, Your
Honor, in that the State has failed to make a prima facie case that my client was either
armed with a deadly weapon, or indicated that he was armed with a deadly weapon,

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or that he attempted to inflict -- That he attempted to inflict serious physical injury
or death on Elizabeth Hill. The State has not proven those elements to that charge.

The circuit court denied the motion, and the defense did not present any evidence. The

jury found appellant guilty of aggravated robbery and theft of property (greater than $5000

and less than $25,000). Appellant was sentenced to forty years’ imprisonment for aggravated

robbery and ten years for theft of property with the sentences to run concurrently. A timely

notice of appeal was filed from the July 24 sentencing order.

We treat a motion for a directed verdict as a challenge to the sufficiency of the

evidence. Fletcher v. State, 2018 Ark. App. 113, 543 S.W.3d 547. We view the evidence in

the light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict.

Id. We affirm a conviction if substantial evidence exists to support it. Id. Substantial evidence

is that which is of sufficient force and character that it will, with reasonable certainty, compel

a conclusion one way or the other, without resorting to speculation or conjecture. Id.

“A person commits robbery if, with the purpose of committing a felony or

misdemeanor theft or resisting apprehension immediately after committing a felony or

misdemeanor theft, the person employs or threatens to immediately employ physical force

upon another person.” Ark. Code Ann. § 5-12-102 (Repl. 2013). A person commits

aggravated robbery if he or she commits robbery as defined in Arkansas Code Annotated

section 5-12-102, and the person

(1) Is armed with a deadly weapon;

(2) Represents by word or conduct that he or she is armed with a deadly weapon; or

(3) Inflicts or attempts to inflict death or serious physical injury upon another person.

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Ark. Code Ann. § 5-12-103(a). “Serious physical injury” is defined as physical injury that

creates a substantial risk of death or that causes protracted disfigurement, protracted

impairment of health, or loss or protracted impairment of the function of any bodily member

or organ.” Ark. Code Ann. § 5-1-102(21) (Repl. 2013). A person commits theft of property

“if he or she knowingly takes or exercises unauthorized control over . . . the property of

another person with the purpose of depriving the owner of the property[.]” Ark. Code Ann.

§ 5-36-103(a)(1) (Supp. 2019).

Appellant first argues that the evidence was insufficient to establish that he was armed

with a deadly weapon or represented that he was armed with a deadly weapon. We need

not address this argument because aggravated robbery may also be sustained by proof that

appellant committed robbery and inflicted or attempted to inflict death or serious physical

injury upon another person.

Appellant next contends that the proof is insufficient to support the conviction

because Hill’s injuries did not rise to the level required by the statute. He states that “there

was no evidence that the wounds were serious, long-term protracted injuries or ones which

needed the care of a hospital or medical doctor.” This argument ignores that the statute

requires that the defendant inflict or attempt to inflict death or serious physical injury. Ark. Code

Ann. § 5-12-103(a)(3) (emphasis added). Thus, appellant’s citation to cases involving

whether gunshot wounds constituted serious physical injuries are not necessary to our

review.

In Bishop v. State, 294 Ark. 303, 742 S.W.2d 911 (1988), the supreme court reduced

appellant’s aggravated-robbery conviction to aggravated assault because there was

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insufficient evidence of appellant’s intent to commit a theft.2 However, the supreme court

stated that there was sufficient evidence to show that the defendant attempted to inflict

serious physical injury. The facts in Bishop showed that Bishop and a companion entered a

liquor store; Bishop approached the clerk with a bottle of wine and asked the price; when

the clerk asked Bishop for identification, he turned as if to walk away but abruptly turned

back and swung the bottle at the clerk’s head; the clerk ducked; and Bishop jumped up on

the counter and swung again at the clerk. The supreme court stated there was “no doubt

that the evidence was sufficient to show an attempt to inflict serious physical injury” upon

the clerk. Bishop, 294 Ark. at 306, 742 S.W.2d at 913; see also Smith v. State, 65 Ark. App.

216, 986 S.W.2d 137 (1999) (stating that although not challenged, there was no doubt that

the evidence was sufficient to show an attempt by appellant to inflict serious physical injury

upon the victim where he was beaten, put in the backseat of the car, blindfolded and driven

around, and eventually thrown out of the car).

Considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, there is sufficient

evidence to show an attempt to inflict death or serious physical injury. The victim went to

appellant’s house to purchase drugs. When she arrived, she agreed to give appellant, Seth,

and Stephanie a ride. As she was driving, appellant told her to stop the car and began choking

her and punching her in the face. He and Seth then dragged Hill from the car to a ditch

and continued to beat her. Hill was then placed in the backseat of the car with part of her

2
In Matthews v. State, 2009 Ark. 321, 319 S.W.3d 266, the supreme court held that
aggravated assault was not a lesser-included offense of aggravated robbery, overruling Bishop,
294 Ark. 303, 742 S.W.2d 911.

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legs hanging out of the door. Appellant held her nose and covered her mouth, which caused

Hill to pass out. Appellant and Seth discussed how to kill Hill and decided to throw her out

of the car once it reached sixty miles per hour. Ultimately, appellant threw Hill out of the

moving vehicle, and they drove away in her car. Both Hill and Stephanie recalled hearing

gunshots, although at different times. There was evidence that Hill had a wound on her

arm, which appeared to have an entry and an exit point, and was treated by the EMT as a

gunshot wound.

Appellant further states that aggravated robbery must be committed in the

furtherance of a theft and argues that the evidence was insufficient to establish that he had

the purpose to take unauthorized control of Hill’s vehicle. However, appellant failed to

preserve this argument for appeal by not raising it below. A party is bound by the nature

and scope of the objections and arguments made at trial and may not enlarge or change

those grounds on appeal. Daniels v. State, 2019 Ark. App. 507, at 4, 588 S.W.3d 407, 409.

Affirmed.

MURPHY and BROWN, JJ., agree.

Potts Law Office, by: Gary W. Potts, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att’y Gen., by: Michael L. Yarbrough, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.

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