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SPRINGSTON v. STATE2/25/1998
d 865 (1996). Our responsibility, as the reviewing court, is to determine whether the jury verdict is supported by substantial evidence. Wetherington v. State, supra.
[3,4] We hold that the verdict is so supported. Appellant was discovered walking away from a one-vehicle accident involving his own truck for which he possessed the keys in his pocket. There was testimony that appellant had been driving his truck not long before his encounter with the police. And, the jury was entitled to disregard appellant's story that someone else had been driving the truck, particularly in light of Deputy Purcell's testimony concerning his efforts to locate that person, who was nowhere to be found. A jury is not required to believe the accused's version of events because he is the person most interested in the outcome of the trial. Reams v. State, 45 Ark. App. 7, 870 S.W.2d 404 (1994). See also Altes v. State, 286 Ark. 94, 689 S.W.2d 541 (1985); Neble v. State, supra. In addition, a jury may consider and give weight to any false and improbable statements made by an accused in explaining suspicious circumstances. Reams v. State, supra. We think there is sufficient evidence from which the jury could properly infer that appellant was operating the vehicle at the time the accident occurred.
In his next point, appellant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the jury to view the videotape filmed at the Paragould Police Department. He argues, in reference to Rule 403 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence, that the probative value of the tape was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. He contends that the tape was overly prejudicial in that he was shown in handcuffs and because it depicted him as being angry and argumentative, using profanity, and refusing the breathalyzer test. We cannot agree.
[5, 6] It has repeatedly been held that the balancing of probative value against prejudice is a matter left to the sound
discretion of the trial court, and this decision will not be reversed absent a showing of manifest abuse. Hill v. State, 325 Ark. 419, 931 S.W.2d 64 (1996). The prejudice referred to in Rule 403 denotes the effect of the evidence on the jury, not the party opposed to it. Sasser v. State, 321 Ark. 438, 902 S.W.2d 773 (1995). Since intoxication is an essential element of the crime in this case, evidence that shows the demeanor of the accused at or near the time of the offense is highly relevant to that issue. The fact that the evidence may have also portrayed the appellant in an unfavorable light does not constitute the kind of unfair prejudice that would require its exclusion at trial. We also have some difficulty in accepting appellant's claim of prejudice when we consider that appellant contended that the tape was favorable to his defense in his arguments before the court in his motion for a directed verdict and before the jury in his closing statement. We find no abuse of discretion.
Affirmed.
ROBBINS, C.J., and CRABTREE, J., agree.
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