{
  "id": 298574,
  "name": "Woodrow DAVIS III v. STATE of Arkansas",
  "name_abbreviation": "Davis v. State",
  "decision_date": "1997-11-20",
  "docket_number": "CR 97-562",
  "first_page": "610",
  "last_page": "617",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "330 Ark. 610"
    },
    {
      "type": "parallel",
      "cite": "955 S.W.2d 705"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "Ark.",
    "id": 8808,
    "name": "Arkansas Supreme Court"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 34,
    "name_long": "Arkansas",
    "name": "Ark."
  },
  "cites_to": [],
  "analysis": {
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    "ocr_confidence": 0.739,
    "sha256": "d1abdcccaa843dbc69ae0d3783ac6b23e2dd34a53fdd399733d0049feab321bf",
    "simhash": "1:0419912cd427f47e",
    "word_count": 2454
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T16:33:54.141445+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "Woodrow DAVIS III v. STATE of Arkansas"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Tom Glaze, Justice.\nAppellant Woodrow Davis, III, was convicted of capital murder for the shooting death of Billy Sanders on January 31, 1995. Although the State sought the death penalty, Davis was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.\nAt trial the State introduced a taped conversation made on April 17, 1995, between Davis and an acquaintance, Bobby Tygart. Tygart had suspected Davis\u2019s involvement in Sanders\u2019s death and had offered to aid law enforcement officers in the investigation of the murder. Unbeknownst to Davis, Tygart was wired when Tygart initiated conversation and successfully obtained Davis\u2019s statements implicating himself in Sanders\u2019s murder. Also, as a part of the State\u2019s case-in-chief, the State introduced into evidence Davis\u2019s confession which officers obtained on April 18, 1995.\nDavis\u2019s only point for reversal on appeal is that the trial court erred -in refusing to exclude from evidence five segments from Davis\u2019s and Tygart\u2019s recorded conversation. Davis\u2019s argument is meritless.\nIn addressing Davis\u2019s point, we are met with his general contention that tibi\u00e9 five segments he sought to exclude at trial had little or no probative value and whatever value they might have had was outweighed by their unfair and undue prejudice. See Ark. R. Evid. 403 (1997). Davis also claims the content of the disputed segments had no independent relevance to the State\u2019s case and tended only to show him as a bad person. See Ark. R. Evid. 404 (1997).\nThe only meaningful way to examine and understand Davis\u2019s argument is to abstract all of his statements made during his conversation with Tygart, but in doing so, we sequentially number and italicize the five passages to which Davis objects:\nWhat are you doing? Let\u2019s go. Come here, boy. Where\u2019s your old lady at? Fayetteville? What for? Oh yeah \u2014. (Tygart\u2019s aunt is in the hospital in Jacksonville; the aunt\u2019s car is messed up, and explains to Davis this is why he got away without his wife.) Oh yeah.\nYou don\u2019t got no dope? No, not, I did some crack. I used a big old rock of crack. Cocaine. Oh, let\u2019s go get a rock. No (Davis doesn\u2019t have any money), I was going to get twenty from you. I was gonna borrow twenty from you. You! On \u201cE?\u201d (Tygart\u2019s gas gauge) Just out runr\u00fan\u2019 around? He\u2019s left town (referring to a man named \u201cJohnny\u201d). Supposed to be headed to Wisconsin.\n(Tygart asks where he can get a gun.) (1) What for? I don\u2019t man, what for? To kill somebody. If you kill somebody, book \u2019em and run. Talk to old Jim. He may have one. (Jim) Milam. Old Jim, he won\u2019t tell nobody. Hasn\u2019t got as much power does it? (referring to the car) How\u2019s that? It ain\u2019t (the same part of the car). Room and board up here at Cecil\u2019s house. I\u2019m gonna ask him about y\u2019all\u2019s shit. And I\u2019ll see if I can borrow twenty dollars from him. No (Cecil doesn\u2019t have a gun). Jim may have one. He had one that I used a time or two but, he was supposed to got rid of it. We can check \u2019em.\n(Davis next gives directions to Tygart)\nNo. I\u2019d have to go by myself (to talk to Milam; Tygart then remarks he does not want to talk to Milam). Why not? What? (Tygart responds he has a lot on his mind). I do, too. Got it from my old lady. Jim will give me fifty dollars in the morning, but he can\u2019t get it until morning \u2019cause his old lady is there, and that\u2019s why I couldn\u2019t talk to him. (Jim is) Robert\u2019s uncle or his nephew. He\u2019s (Robert) out there somewhere \u2014 staying \u2014. I ain\u2019t seen him \u2014 Well, I seen him the other day. I went over there and seen him.\n(The next portion of the conversation discusses what Robert\u2019s Uncle is in jail for and more directions to Cecil\u2019s).\n(Tygart and Davis discuss Tygart\u2019s requirement of being in Jacksonville by 9:00, and directions once more.)\n(2) I\u2019ll pop a motherfucker in the head. (Unintelligible) \u2014 Bull shit walks. Mother fucker pay me right. Mother fucker pay me right, I\u2019ll pop the mother fucker for ya. But, uh, you can. Yeah. (Inaudible) have to pay right, huh. (Tygart states he doesn\u2019t know if he could shoot a person). (3) I can. I can. I can. (Tygart asks if Davis would have bad dreams afterwards). I hadn\u2019t. I can\u2019t tell ya (who he shot). I got fucked up, boy. You know the mother fucker. Who? (Has Tygart figured out? Tygart says Bill.) How do you figure? I didn\u2019t say that. You don\u2019t know that. I\u2019ll go to the penitentiary for life on that. Oh I figured (Unintelligible) that you looked at me (laughing) uh, yeah, Woody did (Unintelligible). Hey, man, fuckin\u2019 planned on \u2014 paying for a fuckin\u2019 (Unintelligible). Somebody else got paid to do it and then couldn\u2019t. And never got it done. Never got it done and then I got in on the deal.\nUh, like I say, I got in on the deal, and it took me forever and ever, kept putting it off. Then I \u2014 \u2019Cause I was scopin\u2019 him. Uh, I was sitting across the woods every morning and sitting across the road in the woods watching that mother fucker every morning in the mud, rain, cold. Shoot, about four, five or six months before I ever finally got any \u2014 Well, what it got down to, the boy that I \u2014 we was doing it for said that \u2014. Peoples on him \u2022\u2014 that peoples on him, and they said, you know, look, they on me. It\u2019s either him or y\u2019all. He said ya\u2019ll done know too much, Said either get him, or we\u2019re gonna get y\u2019all. No, not you. Me and the guy I did it for.\nMe and the guy that was with me that was supposed to do it, I just supposed to do all of the driving and shit. Then when it come down, he didn\u2019t have the balls, so I had to do it. Well, shit I got \u2014 I didn\u2019t get rid of that \u2022\u2014 I just planned my shit out and screwed around and got by with it. There\u2019s a reward out now over it I heard. Don\u2019t nobody know but me, the guy that was with me and the guy that had us do it, and you. I ain\u2019t gonna say nothing about it again. Fuckin\u2019 took forever. Goddamn.\n(Tygart then questions Davis about how he felt afterwards.)\n(4) I\u2019s real hurt. I had to go get some stuff. I went and got me a gram, phew, the whole half. Yeah (at one time). Fs pushing. Pheewwww, boy I was going. Shit. Took me a while, I have \u2014 I felt better when I got over it though. It wasn\u2019t, ivasn\u2019t like I thought it was gonna be. I don\u2019t think about it. When I think about how the pussy the mother fucker acted about it. He was scared. Mother fucker went through \u2014 Yeah, damn near. He had to of, \u2019cause you know, Bob told him, hey man, you better come off that shit if you want to live. And he thought he\u2019s gonna live and give me all his shit, but he didn\u2019t live. I knew what I had to do. Mother fucker with a .357 in your side.\nNo, he was supposed to have (some dope). No. He bought it. He fuckin\u2019 bought an ounce a week or two ounces a week. A kilo or something. Fucking crystal or cocaine, and he pushed it. He bought that a week. He\u2019s got all that money stashed in his house. Cause the guy was fuckin\u2019 his old lady, she come by and gave \u2014. Well, he don\u2019t no more, he\u2019s gone. Bill got the dope, and he put it up to his pushers, mainly in Jacksonville, and then they went out, you know. He, he always passes out two or three people \u2014.\nThat if I didn\u2019t kill him, they were going to kill me for not killing him, \u2019cause I already knew too much. Yeah. And they\u2019d still kill me now if I say anything. Don\u2019t nobody know nothing but me, him and him and \u2014 the militia \u2014 These mother fuckers are worse than the militia. I ain\u2019t lying. These mother fuckers are worse than the militia. It\u2019s like the Mafia.\n(Tygart then explains some trouble he is in.)\n(5) Boy, don\u2019t ever fucking say nothing about that shit, \u2019cause Goddamn, we\u2019d both have to get killed. I ain\u2019t lying. I ain\u2019t lying. What was really so fucked up about it was the motherfucker was such a pussy about it, \u2018cause you know, when you got a .357 in your side, you gonna suck his dick if you want \u2014 if you want. If you don\u2019t \u2014. It wasn\u2019t what there was supposed to be (the money on Sanders). No, not all of it (was spent by Davis buying crack). Crystal, bought the boys some toys and shit.\nDavis specifically objected to each numbered segment set out above as follows:\n(1) Any reference to \u201cIf you kill somebody, book \u2019em and run\u201d was not probative of any issue involved, showed Davis was nonchalant about killing a person and portrayed him as a bad person.\n(2) When referring to \u201cpopping\u201d a person for the right money, the statement made no reference to a specific person and was merely a general observation.\n(3) In stating he could shoot somebody and it not bother him, it was not probative, but was highly prejudicial.\n(4) His statement concerning the taking of drugs to make him feel better after shooting [Billy] did not reflect Davis\u2019s state of mind on the day of the incident [murder] and was irrelevant to any issue at trial.\n(5) His reference to using a .357 on Billy Sanders added no new information, and the remainder of the statement portrayed Davis as remorseless, which was not an issue in this case.\nIn reviewing Davis\u2019s arguments in light of the full text of his statements to Tygart, we conclude the five disputed passages were highly relevant, and any prejudicial effect they had were clearly outweighed by their probative value. In fact, to remove those segments challenged by Davis would only cause confusion regarding the meaning of the remaining portions of his conversation with Tygart that were introduced without objection.\nThe importance of the full text of Davis\u2019s April 17, 1995, conversation with Tygart is best illustrated because his .statements to Tygart corroborate Davis\u2019s April 18, 1995, confession. While Davis does not challenge on appeal the trial court\u2019s ruling that allowed his confession into evidence, Davis argued at trial that his confession should have been suppressed because it was not voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently given. In his closing argument to the jury, Davis\u2019s counsel argued that Davis\u2019s confession resulted from some type of coercion. Moreover, Davis also offered testimony reflecting that Sanders\u2019s employer had received a prior death threat on Sanders\u2019s life from a man other than Milam, Reeves or Davis, who claimed Sanders had been seeing the man\u2019s wife.\nDavis\u2019s confession very clearly related how he, Robert Reeves, and Reeves\u2019s uncle, Jim Milam, killed Sanders. Milam was the one who initiated the plan by contacting Reeves. Milam gave Reeves a 30-30 rifle, but Reeves did not do the \u201cjob.\u201d Milam then offered money to Reeves and Davis if they would kill Sanders. Davis and Reeves made several morning trips to woods located near Sanders\u2019s house, but Reeves still would not shoot Sanders. Davis said that, after Reeves and Davis failed to kill Sanders, Milam threatened them that \u201cit was either Bill (Sanders) or us.\u201d\nDavis\u2019s confession detailed the day of Sanders\u2019s murder, setting out how each party participated. Milam furnished a .357 pistol to Davis and Reeves; afterwards Davis and Reeves found Sanders, driving his truck into his employer\u2019s car lot on the morning of January 31, 1995. Reeves and Davis got into Sanders\u2019s truck and proceeded to drive to a landfill in Pulaski County. Milam drove his vehicle to the landfill to join them, and after Reeves, Davis, and Sanders arrived, Milam shot Sanders in the head while Sanders was still in his truck. Reeves then placed Sanders\u2019s truck in gear so it would roll off and submerge into a water hole. Davis and Reeves had taken Sanders\u2019s ring and $300.00 in cash. Davis said the cash was split equally between him, Reeves and Milam, but Davis\u2019s wife\u2019s stepfather later pawned the ring.\nIn sum, Davis argues the five disputed segments prejudicially placed before the jury evidence and general observations that had no relevance to any issue at trial. Those segments considered along with Davis\u2019s confession show Davis\u2019s part in Sanders\u2019s murder and that Davis\u2019s statements to Tygart related to his past participation in that murder. As far as Davis\u2019s expressed concern that his mention of a .357 pistol to Tygart added nothing new to the State\u2019s case, the State was not limited in the amount of proof it could introduce to prove its case. Instead, the rule is that relevant evidence may be excluded only if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. Ark. R. Evid. 403. Here, considering the record before us, we are unable to say the trial court abused its discretion in rejecting Davis\u2019s argument that the probative value of the State\u2019s evidence was outweighed by danger of unfair prejudice or needless cumulative evidence. Again, to the contrary, we beheve the jury likely would have been confused or misled if the five segments objected to had been excluded from evidence.\nPursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-3(h), the record has been examined in its entirety, and no other rulings adverse to Mr. Davis involving prejudicial error were found. We affirm.\nDavis\u2019s entire conversation with Tygart was recorded on three tapes, but the trial court excluded a substantial portion of the conversation as being irrelevant.\nThere are seven to eight additional abstract pages containing statements of Davis to Tygart, but those statements were introduced at trial without objection and are unnecessary to recite for purposes of this opinion.\nDavis also argued his due process right was violated because Tygart had been provided some compensation or reward for his cooperation. However, Tygart had received no compensation or reward at the time of trial.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Tom Glaze, Justice."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "William R. Simpson, Jr., Public Defender, by: Deborah R. Sailings, for appellant.",
      "Winston Bryant, Att\u2019y Gen., by: Gil Dudley, Asst. Att\u2019y Gen., for appeEee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "Woodrow DAVIS III v. STATE of Arkansas\nCR 97-562\n955 S.W.2d 705\nSupreme Court of Arkansas\nOpinion delivered November 20, 1997\nWilliam R. Simpson, Jr., Public Defender, by: Deborah R. Sailings, for appellant.\nWinston Bryant, Att\u2019y Gen., by: Gil Dudley, Asst. Att\u2019y Gen., for appeEee."
  },
  "file_name": "0610-01",
  "first_page_order": 648,
  "last_page_order": 655
}