APPEAL
FROM THE GARLAND COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NOS. 26CR-16-291,
26CR-16-293] HONORABLE MARCIA R. HEARNSBERGER, JUDGE
Hancock Law Firm, by: Sharon Kiel, for appellant.
Leslie
Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Amanda Jegley, Ass't
Att'y Gen., for appellee.
WAYMOND M. BROWN, JUDGE
A
Garland County jury found appellant Lonnie Davidson guilty of
commercial burglary and theft of property, valued at more
than $1000 but less than $5000, in case No. 26CR-16-291 and
sentenced him to an aggregate term of five years'
imprisonment to run concurrent to the sentence he received in
case No. 26CR-16-293. Appellant was also fined $10, 000. In
case No. 26CR-16-293, appellant was found guilty of
aggravated robbery and residential burglary and was sentenced
to an aggregate term of forty years'
imprisonment.[1] Appellant only challenges his
aggravated-robbery conviction on appeal, contending that the
evidence was insufficient to support the conviction. We
affirm.[2]
Appellant
was charged with committing aggravated robbery against Mr.
James Krauss on April 12, 2016. Appellant's jury trial
took place May 10-11, 2017. Mr. Krauss testified that he was
living at 130 Alysonview Street in Hot Springs on April 12,
2016. He stated that he heard a noise outside in the early
morning hours on that date, which awoke him. He testified
that he got up and walked to his back window, which overlooks
his back deck, anticipating seeing a raccoon or other animal.
He further testified:
I walked up to the window to see if I could see anything and
I heard another rustling, but it was down lower. I turned the
lights on to the patio, and the outside lights and stood
there for a few minutes and didn't see anything. I opened
the door, walked to the edge of the patio, and that's
when I noticed the four-wheeler was out in the middle of the
yard.
When I went to sleep the night before it was on the slab
underneath the patio. I was trying to figure out why my
four-wheeler was out in the middle of the yard. I went to the
edge of the stairway there and I was trying to figure out if
it rolled off. I walked to the landing before the cement slab
and noticed there was a row of firewood that had been knocked
over and that's where the four-wheeler went off. I
continued to walk down on to the slab and looked underneath
the patio and didn't really see anything. I turned around
and I saw the Defendant.
The defendant was wearing a dark jacket and a baseball cap.
He told me to get back up in the house and I was about
half-startled trying to figure out what was going on and I
hesitated trying to figure out if he was a homeless person or
something and right then is when he pulled the gun up on me.
He pointed the gun at me and he was motioning upstairs and he
said, "Get your F-ing ass up there or I'll blow your
head off." I went back up the stairs. I kept an eye
behind me and he followed me up the stairs and when I got to
the middle landing again, I looked back and he was about two
steps behind me. I kind of went a little faster and got up
and went to the door and when I got to the door, I turned
back and he was on the top step of the stairway there and
still waving a gun at me and the whole time telling me to get
in the house, get in the house. And so at that time my wife
had gotten up by that time wanting to know what was going on
and I yelled at her, I said, "Get my gun! Get my
gun!" just try to scare him away. And I went in and
locked the door.
Mr.
Krauss stated that he did not have a gun in the house but was
attempting to "bluff" appellant. He said that his
wife never came out of the house and that he put her in a
safe room in the middle bathroom as soon as he got back
inside. He testified that he looked for his cell phone, which
was in the kitchen. He stated that as he walked through the
living room to reach the kitchen, he could hear appellant
yelling several things, including, "You better stay in
the house or I'll come and get both of you." He said
that he retrieved his phone, walked into the hallway, and
dialed 911. He stated that the police arrived quickly, but
that he was unsure if appellant was still on the premises at
that time. He testified that he was missing four cases of
tools that appellant took after he kicked his basement door
in. He stated that all but one of the cases were recovered.
He said that he was able to identify appellant as the person
who threatened him later on that morning. He also positively
identified appellant at the trial.
On
cross-examination, Mr. Krauss stated that he recalled telling
Officer Chris Savage that he saw what appeared to be a black
handgun and that appellant told him to go back upstairs or he
would "blow [his] head off." He said that he also
recalled speaking to Detective Scott Lampinen a few days
later and that he was "totally convinced it was a
gun" that appellant pointed at him. He said that he
guessed that it "could have been anything" but he
remembered seeing the round barrel of a gun. He stated that
appellant was holding it with two hands, one hand on each
side of the gun.
Deborah
Krauss stated that she is James's wife. She said that she
woke up shortly after her husband on the morning of April 12,
2016, and wondered what was going on. She testified,
I could see him standing on the landing and he said,
"Just stay back." And I said, "What's
going on? I heard something." I kept standing in the
bedroom and the next thing I know is I hear Jim coming up the
stairs and saying, "He's got a gun! He's got a
gun! Run!" and I just stood there, kind of frozen and I
didn't know which direction to go. Jim shoved me into a
bathroom and locked the door and I could hear him frantically
running through the house ...