Background
Chyenne Marie Kimbrell was charged with second-degree battery and two counts of aggravated assault on certified law enforcement officers after an incident at the Garland County Detention Center. While officers attempted to dress and move her to a housing unit, Kimbrell resisted, kicked Sergeant Barbara Falasca, and bit Falasca’s arm for about twenty seconds. The bite broke the skin and left a mark, bruising, and swelling.
After being placed in a restraint chair, Kimbrell spat into Deputy Javan Angel’s face and mouth and later spat into Deputy Claire Jones’s face and mouth. A second amended information had omitted one aggravated-assault count, but the parties agreed to instructions and verdict forms for two such counts. The jury convicted Kimbrell on all three charges and recommended one year’s imprisonment for battery and five years’ probation on each assault count.
The Court’s Holding
The court affirmed the second-degree-battery conviction because substantial evidence showed physical injury to Sergeant Falasca. The evidence supported findings of substantial pain, bruising, swelling, and a visible mark from the bite; Falasca testified that the photographs understated the injury, and the bite led to medical testing for communicable diseases.
Kimbrell’s sufficiency challenge to the aggravated-assault convictions was not preserved. Her directed-verdict motion challenged only whether she purposely caused the deputies to contact bodily fluids, while her appellate argument challenged different statutory elements. Her claim concerning the omitted count in the amended information also did not allege an illegal sentence; it alleged trial error that she failed to preserve because she agreed to the instructions on both assault counts and did not object at trial.
Key Takeaways
- A bite that breaks skin and causes pain, bruising, swelling, or a visible mark can support second-degree battery.
- A directed-verdict motion must specifically identify the element later challenged on appeal.
- An unpreserved objection to jury instructions is trial error, not an illegal-sentence claim.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores Arkansas’s strict preservation rules in criminal appeals. A defendant cannot recast an unpreserved instructional or charging-error objection as a challenge to an illegal sentence.