The appellant, John Michael Bray, was convicted of rape, kidnapping, and theft of property in Faulkner County Circuit Court, and was sentenced as a habitual offender to a cumulative term of 140 years’ imprisonment. His sole point on appeal is that the trial court erred in admitting testimony during the sentencing phase of the trial regarding his prior conviction for attempted escape, when the State did not timely disclose the conviction. We affirm.
The day prior to Bray’s December 14, 1994, jury trial, his counsel received discovery from the State regarding an attempted escape by Bray while he was incarcerated on the present charges in Independence County. Included in the discovery were forty-five pages of statements that Bray had given to police regarding the escape attempt. In addition, the name of Investigator Jeff Everetts of the Independence County Sheriff’s Office was added to the witness list. Bray filed a written motion to suppress this information, complaining that the State had violated discovery rules. At a hearing on the motion prior to opening statements, the trial court observed that, while the State had violated discovery rules, Bray could not claim surprise. The. trial court reserved ruling on the motion.
The State did not use any of the information regarding the attempted escape during the guilt phase of the trial. The jury returned verdicts of guilty on all three charges. During the sentencing phase on December 15, the State introduced evidence of Bray’s prior felony convictions for perjury, possession of drug paraphernalia, and theft of property. Over Bray’s objection, the State also introduced evidence of Bray’s prior conviction for attempted escape in Independence County, as well as the testimony of Everetts. At the close of all the evidence, the trial court instructed the jury regarding the statutory range of punishment for a person convicted of more than one, but fewer than four felonies. Following deliberations, the jury recommended that Bray be sentenced to 60 years for rape, 60 years for kidnapping, and 20 years for theft of property. The trial court entered judgment against Bray accordingly and ordered that the sentences be served consecutively.
An accused is entitled to know, prior to trial, the range of possible punishment he faces. Malone v. State,
In reviewing the record before us, it is clear that Bray has not demonstrated that he was prejudiced by the admission of the evidence regarding his conviction for attempted escape. We think it significant that counsel for Bray concurred with the trial court’s observations prior to opening statements that his client could not claim surprise:
THE COURT: Oh, it is late, but let me ask you this: How can the defendant claim surprise? He knew whether he did or didn’t escape, and he knew whether or not he made a statement to police, didn’t he?
COUNSEL FOR BRAY: I would assume he did.
In addition to counsel for Bray’s concession that his client could not claim that he was surprised by the evidence of the attempted escape, Bray suffered no prejudice by the admission of this evidence because he was not subjected to a harsher range of punishment for persons convicted of four or more felonies.
Affirmed.
