ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

JOHN E. JENNINGS

DIVISION IV

CACR 00-1258

June 6, 2001

WARDELL GREEN APPEAL FROM PULASKI COUNTY

APPELLANT CIRCUIT COURT

VS.

HONORABLE MARION A. HUMPHREY,

CIRCUIT JUDGE

STATE OF ARKANSAS

APPELLEE AFFIRMED

A jury found Wardell Green guilty of aggravated robbery and theft of property, and he was sentenced to serve fifty years in prison as a habitual offender. Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him. We disagree and affirm.

The victim, Shane Connerly, testified that he was approached by Joshua Miles who asked about buying some stereo equipment. Connerly stated that Miles later paged him and arranged to meet him to look at the equipment Connerly was selling. Connerly testified that he met Miles and Miles's friend, Carlos Browning, near a parkand that, while Miles and Browning were asking questions about the stereo equipment, a white car driven by appellant pulled past him and blocked his car. He said that when he turned back around from looking at the white car, Browning had pulled a gun on him. Connerly testified that Miles and appellant began putting his stereo equipment into the backseat of appellant's white car. He said the three males stole two amps, three subwoofers, a booklet of CDs, and $700.00 and then drove off in appellant's white car.

Miles testified that he approached Connerly initially because he smelled marijuana and that it was not he who broached the subject of the stereo equipment, but Connerly. Miles stated that he paged Connerly a couple of months later because his brother needed some stereo equipment for a car he had just purchased. Miles testified that they did not meet at his house to see Connerly's equipment because Miles did not want his mother to know about the transaction. Miles stated that, once they were at the park discussing the equipment, appellant drove up and that he and Browning, who were friends with appellant, went over to talk to him. Miles testified that appellant was asking what they were doing and that he stated that he had a gun. Miles stated that Browning took the pistol and stuck it in his pocket and that they heard Browning telling Connerly to be quiet before he got shot. Miles testified that he and appellant then moved the stereo equipment from Connerly's car to appellant's car.

Officer Robert Martin testified that he stopped a white car fitting the description he had received from the dispatcher. He stated that appellant was driving the car and that Connerly positively identified appellant as having been involved in the robbery earlier that day. Martin testified that he did not find a gun, any stolen stereo equipment, or the $700.00.

A motion for a directed verdict is treated as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Stewart v. State, 338 Ark. 608, 999 S.W.2d 684 (1999). We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and affirm if there is substantial evidence to support the verdict. Pond v. State, 69 Ark. App. 346, 14 S.W.3d 525 (2000).

Appellant based his motion for a directed verdict on the State's having "two very incredible witnesses" who gave contradic tory testimony. He argues on appeal that the testimony of those witnesses was "too flimsy a reed on which to rest the lengthy deprivation of Green's liberty which this case entails." He further argues that Connerly had previously given sworn testimony that appellant had not done anything but that Browning had initiated the robbery.

Regardless of the discrepancies, inconsistencies, and contradictory evidence, matters of credibility are for the jury to determine. Nichols v. State, 69 Ark. App. 212, 11 S.W.3d 19 (2000). Reasonable minds could conclude on the evidence presentedat trial that appellant participated in the robbery of Shane Connerly. Appellant's conviction is therefore supported by substantial evidence.

Affirmed.

Baker and Robbins, JJ., agree.