Petty v. State, 2017 Ark. App. 347

In September 2015, David Petty and family members were in a civil dispute with Robert Louton over property; Petty had installed fence posts on Louton’s land.
Louton and his wife returned to their home, encountered Petty and Petty’s mother sitting in Louton’s yard, and an altercation ensued as the Loutons attempted to enter their house.
Louton testified Petty pursued and attacked him into the house; Louton shoved Petty to create separation and pulled his own weapon, yelling for Petty to leave.
Petty then drew a pistol and pointed it at Louton as Petty was leaving the house.
Petty was tried and convicted in Hot Spring County Circuit Court of first-degree assault (creating a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury); he received one year supervised probation, anger-management classes, court costs, and a $1,000 fine.
On appeal Petty argued the State produced no evidence the gun he pointed was loaded and separately contended drawing the weapon was justified; the appellate court addressed sufficiency and preservation of the justification claim.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency: Whether evidence proved a substantial risk of death or serious injury (i.e., that the gun was loaded or created danger)	State: A gun pointed at someone creates a substantial risk; witness testimony showed Petty pointed a pistol at Louton.	Petty: No evidence the gun was loaded; an unloaded gun cannot create substantial danger.	Affirmed: Viewing evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, testimony that Petty pointed a weapon at Louton is substantial evidence of a substantial risk.
Preservation and merits of justification defense	N/A (justification is a defense Petty sought to raise)	Petty: Drawing his weapon was a reasonable, justified response to the confrontation.	Not preserved for appeal because Petty’s directed-verdict motions did not raise justification; even on the merits, justification would fail because Petty created the confrontation.

Harris v. State, 35 S.W.3d 819 (Ark. Ct. App.) (pointing a gun at someone can create a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury)
Robinson v. State, 506 S.W.3d 881 (Ark. Ct. App.) (denial of directed verdict treated as sufficiency challenge)
Lewis v. State, 492 S.W.3d 538 (Ark. Ct. App.) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Davis v. State, ? S.W.3d (Ark. Ct. App.) (definition of substantial evidence)
Scott v. State, 471 S.W.3d 236 (Ark. Ct. App.) (directed-verdict motions must specify grounds to preserve issues)
Matar v. State, 492 S.W.3d 106 (Ark. Ct. App.) (appellate courts may not decide issues raised for the first time on appeal)
Sullivan v. State, 470 S.W.3d 312 (Ark. Ct. App.) (a defendant who creates the situation cannot claim justification)

(Note: citations use Arkansas Court of Appeals reporter references as provided in the opinion.)