Ark. Code Ann. § 5-26-306 (2026)

Case Notes

Defense or Justification.

In a bench trial resulting in defendant's convictions for aggravated assault on a family member and aggravated assault, the circuit court erred as a matter of law in refusing to consider the defense of justification by ruling that defendant could not present the inconsistent defenses of a general denial and justification; where there is evidence that would support a finding of self-defense, case law has held that a jury instruction is appropriate notwithstanding defendant's testimony that he did not commit the crime. Thus, the circuit court committed an error of law in ruling that defendant was required to choose between the defenses of general denial and justification. Gray v. State, 2019 Ark. App. 543, 590 S.W.3d 177 (2019).

Evidence.

Where defendant's parents, in a very distraught state, gave police written statements that defendant, while intoxicated, threatened them with a shotgun, but then recanted those statements at trial, the evidence nevertheless supported a conviction and it was for the fact-finder to conclude that the parents' testimony was not credible. Nelson v. State, 84 Ark. App. 373, 141 S.W.3d 900 (2004).

Evidence was sufficient to sustain defendant's conviction for aggravated assault and aggravated assault on a family member when, among other things, evidence showed that defendant drove a car in an attempt to run over the victim, the father of her child, and his girlfriend. Williams v. State, 96 Ark. App. 277, 241 S.W.3d 290 (2006).

Evidence was sufficient to convict defendant of aggravated assault on a family or household member because a dispatcher testified that the dispatcher received a 911 call from defendant's wife reporting a domestic disturbance; a deputy testified that the deputy noticed bruising on the wife's body and saw broken dishes and cabinets knocked off the walls. Mathis v. State, 2012 Ark. App. 285, 423 S.W.3d 91 (2012).

Defendant got angry, either loaded or cocked a rifle, put it in a place of easy access, and tried to have his father talk him out of “it,” and given defendant's past history of violence, and his statements and demeanor, the act of preparing a gun to be used and the threat to use it were sufficient to satisfy the statute concerning aggravated assault on a family or household member. Cauffiel v. State, 2013 Ark. App. 642 (2013).

Substantial evidence supported defendant's conviction in a bench trial of aggravated assault on a family or household member because defendant repeatedly punched the victim, his girlfriend, in the head and face while brandishing an open pocketknife, which could certainly create a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury; and the victim sustained a cut on her ear as defendant had the knife in his hand while he was punching her. Williams v. State, 2019 Ark. App. 518, 588 S.W.3d 833 (2019).

Federal Law.

Defendant's Arkansas conviction for aggravated assault on a family member under subdivision (a)(3) of this section was a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act's force clause, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i); the Arkansas statute's element of impeding respiration or blood circulation by applying pressure on the throat or neck or by blocking the nose or mouth necessarily required the use of violent force, and the statute required that defendant act purposely. United States v. Pyles, 888 F.3d 1320 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 139 S. Ct. 270, 202 L. Ed. 2d 180 (2018).

Cited: Ta v. State, 2015 Ark. App. 220, 459 S.W.3d 325 (2015).