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Wooten v. State11/9/2005
ppellant grabbed her arm, bruising it. She showed Dickinson the bruise on her arm. Regardless of whether the testimony was hearsay, any error in admission of the statement was harmless. The erroneous admission of testimony does not require reversal if the error is slight and the proof of guilt is overwhelming. Barrett, supra. In this case, the proof of appellant's guilt was overwhelming. In order to prove the charge of murder in the first degree the state was required to prove only that with the purpose of causing the death of Ruiz Stone, appellant caused her death. Ark. Code. Ann. * 5-10-102(a)(2).
Appellant confessed that after beating Ms. Stone he got up from the ground and continued to kick her; then as she lay on the ground unresponsive, he picked up a pipe and proceeded to beat her in the back and head until she was dead. Clearly appellant's confession alone established the elements of murder in the first degree.
Similarly, any error in admitting the testimony as a prior bad act would not warrant reversal under the harmless error analysis. The jury in this case had before it appellant's videotaped confession in which it was not only able to hear, but also see, appellant confessing to his crimes. Additionally, the jury had Dr. Erickson's explanation as the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on what remained of Ms. Stone's body. He testified that that her jaw was fractured in two places, that she suffered multiple fractures to the face and skull from blows that were so severe that they "would have produced extensive deforming injuries," and that her laryngeal cartilage had been fractured." His examination indicated that the murder occurred in the manner that appellant described. Under these circumstances, the proof of appellant's guilt was overwhelming, and thus, any error in admitting Lieutenant Dickenson's testimony was harmless not warranting reversal. (see Cobb v. State, 340 Ark. 240, 12 S.W.3d 195 (2000) (holding any error in admitting allegedly irrelevant testimony that the defendant loved music was harmless in capital murder prosecution where the defendant admitted killing the victim and evidence supported the conviction)). To determine if the error is slight, we can look to see if the defendant was prejudiced. Id. (citing Scherrer v. State, 294 Ark. 227, 742 S.W.2d 877 (1988) (holding the fact that defendant passed the time watching sex and horror movies was irrelevant, but the error was harmless as the prejudicial effect was minimal and the evidence of guilt so overwhelming)). Here, appellant's confession as to the details of the murder was admitted into evidence. Further, the medical examiner testified that the injuries the victim sustained were consistent with appellant's confession. The victim died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck. She had a fractured jaw and multiple facial fractures around the cheek and eye area; the face was "severely battered." Accordingly, there was overwhelming evidence of appellant's guilt, and any error in admission of the victim's statement was harmless. See Cobb v. State, 340 Ark. 240, 12 S.W.3d 195 (2000).
For his second point on appeal, appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it excluded the testimony of witnesses who would have provided corroboration relating to appellant's mens rea at the time of the occurrence. As the State asserts, it does not appear from the record that this argument was made below. It is well settled that an appellant must raise and make an argument at trial in order to preserve it on appeal. Raymond v. State, 354 Ark. 157, 118 S.W. 3d 567(2003). Moreover, in light of the overwhelming evidence in this case, it does not appear that there was any abuse of discretion in not allowi
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