Rehearing Denied November 14, 2019
Page 386
APPEAL
FROM THE CLEBURNE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 12CR-17-63],
HONORABLE TIM WEAVER, JUDGE
Brett
D. Watson, Attorney at Law, PLLC, by: Brett D. Watson, for
appellant.
Leslie
Rutledge, Atty Gen., by: Karen Virgina Wallace, Asst Atty
Gen., for appellee.
OPINION
JOHN
DAN KEMP, Chief Justice
Appellant Rodney Wayne Rayburn appeals an order of the
Cleburne County Circuit Court convicting him of rape of a
minor and sentencing him as a habitual offender to life
imprisonment without parole. For reversal, Rayburn argues
that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to dismiss
for violating his right to a speedy trial and his motion to
dismiss for prosecutorial delay. Rayburn also contends that
the circuit court abused its discretion in admitting an
Arkansas Department of Correction "pen pack" and an
Arkansas Court of Appeals opinion as evidence of prior
convictions. We affirm.
I.
Facts
On
July 9, 2015, Rayburn raped his eleven-year-old daughter,
H.R., at a Cleburne County campsite. There, Rayburn took H.R.
and her brother to the campground showers, sent her brother
to a different shower stall, went into the same shower with
H.R., locked the door, began washing her naked body, forced
her to perform oral sex while on her knees, and attempted
anal penetration.
On July
13, 2015, the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children
Division (CACD) received a call from the child-abuse hotline
alleging that Rayburn had sexually abused H.R. on numerous
occasions. The next day, on July 14, CACD Investigator Pamela
Meeks conducted a forensic interview of H.R. During the
interview, H.R. described in detail what
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Rayburn had done to her in the shower at the Cleburne County
campsite. She also described other sex crimes committed by
Rayburn against her at a rice mill in Arkansas County and at
her home in Jefferson County where she and her family lived.
Investigator Meeks sent notice to prosecutors in Arkansas and
Jefferson Counties. The Arkansas State Police did not report
the investigation to Cleburne County officials at that time.
Arkansas County officers arrested Rayburn in August
2015.[1]
The
Cleburne County Sheriffs Office learned about the July 2015
rape in June 2016. Jennifer Osborne, an investigator with the
Cleburne County Sheriffs Department, testified that she
received a call from H.R.s grandmother inquiring why she had
not been notified by the sheriffs department about the
Rayburn case. Osborne stated that at that time, she had
received nothing from the hotline saying that she had
allegations in her county. After that phone call, Osborne
spoke with a CACD investigator and subsequently met with
H.R., her mother, and her grandmother. Osborne stated that
she went to the crime scene with the victim and photographed
it. She stated that after her initial investigation in the
fall of 2016, she went on vacation for a month and a half and
presented the file to the [Cleburne County] prosecutor
"[w]hen I came back."
On
April 18, 2017, the State filed a felony information in the
Cleburne County Circuit Court and charged Rayburn with the
rape of a child less than fourteen years of age, a violation
of Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-14-103(a)(3)(A) (Supp.
2017). The Cleburne County Circuit Court issued an arrest
warrant that same day. The arrest warrant was served on
Rayburn on January 12, 2018. On February 9, 2018, after a
two-day jury trial, the Cleburne County Circuit Court entered
an order convicting Rayburn of rape and sentencing him to
life imprisonment as a habitual offender. He timely filed his
notice of appeal.
II.
Arguments on Appeal
A.
Speedy Trial
For the
first point on appeal, Rayburn argues that the circuit court
erred in denying his motion to dismiss for violation of the
right to a speedy trial. Specifically, he contends that the
State violated his right to a speedy trial by holding his
trial in Cleburne County in February 2018— more than
two years after his August 2015 arrest in Arkansas County. On
appeal, we conduct a de novo review to determine whether
specific periods of time are excludable under our
speedy-trial rules. E.g., Yarbrough v.
State, 370 Ark. 31, 257 S.W.3d 50 (2007).
Pursuant to Rule 28.1(b) of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal
Procedure (2018), any defendant charged with an offense and
incarcerated in this state pursuant to conviction of another
offense must be brought to trial within twelve months
"from the time provided in Rule 28.2, excluding only
such periods of necessary delay as are authorized in Rule
28.3." Rule 28.2(a) provides that "[t]he time for
trial shall commence running from the date of arrest or
service of summons. " (Emphasis added.) If a
defendant is not brought to trial within the requisite time,
...