Bryan Rogers v. State of Arkansas

── Bryan Rogers v. State of Arkansas ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: April 15, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 235 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION IV No. CR-25-464 BRYAN ROGERS Opinion Delivered April 15, 2026 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE RANDOLPH COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 61CR-22-169] STATE OF ARKANSAS HONORABLE ROB RATTON, JUDGE APPELLEE AFFIRMED WENDY SCHOLTENS WOOD, Judge Bryan Rogers appeals the Randolph County Circuit Court sentencing order convicting him of three counts of attempted capital murder, fleeing, arson, and five counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. He was sentenced to a total of 3168 months’ imprisonment. For his sole argument on appeal, Rogers contends that the circuit court erred when it instructed the jury on premeditated and deliberated attempted capital murder. We affirm. On September 8, 2022, the State charged Rogers with three counts of attempted capital murder along with arson, fleeing, and five counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.1 The information provided that the attempted-capital-murder charges 1 On March 13, 2025, the State filed an amended information to include a habitual- offender allegation, but the attempted-capital-murder charges remained the same. were brought pursuant to “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-10-101” and that Rogers “did unlawfully and feloniously . . . attempt the crime of CAPITAL MURDER, by attempting to cause the death of Kevin Bell by setting Kevin Bell’s residence on fire while he was inside the residence.” The second and third counts of attempted capital murder were identical except that they identified the victims as the wife and minor son of Randolph County Sheriff Kevin Bell. A jury trial took place over several days in March 2025. Before jury selection began, defense counsel sought clarification of one of the State’s proposed jury instructions and asked whether the State’s allegations of attempted capital murder were felony-murder allegations.2 The State responded that it would need to look at it, and the court stated it would take up the issue at “some point in time.” After jury selection, defense counsel again raised the issue of the State’s proposed jury instruction stating: [A]s this Court is aware, there are multiple kinds of capital murder and murder . . . in the State of Arkansas. There is---there’s capital murder which requires premeditated and deliberated, purposeful murder, and then there’s felony murder---felony capital murder. And the State has provided me a jury instruction that states, Bryan Rogers is charged with three counts of the offense of attempted capital murder. A person commits the offense of capital murder if he commits the offense of arson and in the course and furtherance of the arson causes the death of another person. Then it goes on to say, to sustain the charge of attempted capital murder, the State must prove the following things beyond a reasonable doubt. First, that Bryan Rogers intended to commit the offense of capital murder. And second, that Bryan Rogers purposefully engaged in conduct that was a substantial 2 The State’s proposed jury instructions are not part of our record on appeal, but defense counsel read from them during argument at trial. 2  step in the course of conduct intended to culminate in the commission of capital murder. And third, that Bryan Rogers’ conduct was strongly corroborative of the crimina