Rogers v. State

Summary

The Arkansas Supreme Court considers Edward Darnell Rogers's petition for rehearing after affirming his convictions for three counts of rape. The court holds that the circuit court erred by excluding evidence of the victim's prior misdemeanor theft conviction, which was admissible to impeach credibility under Arkansas Rule of Evidence 609(a). Because the case depended substantially on the victims' credibility, the court reverses the convictions and remands for a new trial or further proceedings.

Holdings

1. Rogers's arguments that the evidence was insufficient because of the lack of physical evidence, delayed reporting, and weaknesses in the victims' credibility were not preserved because he did not make those arguments in his directed-verdict motions at trial.
2. A conviction for theft of property involves dishonesty and is automatically admissible to attack a witness's credibility under Arkansas Rule of Evidence 609(a)(2); the circuit court therefore abused its discretion by excluding L.W.'s misdemeanor theft conviction, and Rogers was not required to proffer the underlying facts of the conviction.
3. The erroneous exclusion of L.W.'s theft conviction was not harmless, because the prosecution's case depended on the credibility of the victims and the excluded impeachment evidence could have affected the jury's assessment of L.W. and the intertwined allegations involving Mi.B. and Ma.B.

Questions Presented

1. Whether substantial evidence supported Rogers's rape convictions despite the absence of physical evidence, delayed reporting, and alleged credibility problems.
2. Whether the circuit court erred by excluding L.W.'s prior misdemeanor theft-of-property conviction for impeachment under Arkansas Rule of Evidence 609(a).
3. Whether the exclusion of the theft conviction was harmless.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded