A man was properly convicted and sentenced to prison after he beat a woman in the head with a baseball bat while on probation for a 2012 child abuse conviction, the Arizona Court of Appeals unanimously ruled Tuesday.
Dwight Bernard Collins was charged after a woman with whom he had an “on-and-off relationship” reported being struck in the forehead around 4 a.m. on June 18, 2019 while asleep at a friend’s home. The woman testified at trial that Collins was standing in the room holding a baseball bat, and was upset about an argument the two had the day before.
A jury found Collins guilty of felony aggravated assault after entry into a private home. Judge Pro Tempore Howard Fell of the Pima County Superior Court then r imposed a three-year prison term based on Collins’ history of felony convictions, including a 2011 child abuse offense.
Collins, 49, appealed his aggravated assault conviction, arguing the Pima County Attorney’s Office failed to present any evidence that Collins entered the residence “with the intent to commit an assault,” which is part of the legal definition of the charge the jury considered. The court of appeals, however, affirmed the jury’s verdict in a Feb. 9 decision.
“We review the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict and resolve all inferences against the defendant,” the decision states. “To set aside a jury verdict for insufficient evidence it must clearly appear that upon no hypothesis whatever is there sufficient evidence to support the conclusion reached by the jury.”
According to the appellate decision, the evidence showed the home where the attack happened was one “where people can come and hang out, sleep, get cleaned up.” Collins contended there was no direct evidence presented of other “legitimate reasons” he may have entered the house other than to attack the woman.
The court of appeals found the jury could have reasonably inferred why Collins came to the house, noting that intent “may be inferred from the acts of the accused and the circumstances of the assault.”
As a result, Chief Judge Garye Vásquez noted that reversal based on insufficiency of the evidence is inappropriate and Collins’ convictions and sentences are affirmed. Court documents show that a law enforcement officer noted the woman had a facial injury, but specific details are not included.
At the time of the assault, Collins was serving a 12-year term of probation for a Class 4 child abuse offense from 2012. He was also on probation for a forgery conviction. His probation terms were revoked because of the 2019 assault and he was sentenced to prison for 2.5 years in both cases.
Collins is currently housed at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Safford. All three of his prison terms are being served concurrently so he will be released upon completion of the three years for the Pima County aggravated assault case.
The Arizona Department of Corrections shows Collins’ tentative release date as January 2022 based on credit for the time he spent in jail awaiting trial. Collins previously served 4.5 years in prison for an October 2011 dangerous drug violation.
