The Arkansas Court of Appeals has affirmed the 2018 conviction of 54-year-old Robert Cobb of Yellville in connection with a burglary incident in November 2017 in Summit.
Photo: Robert Cobb
A Marion County Circuit Court jury took an unusual step when it recommended consecutive sentences for Cobb totaling 61 years of incarceration. The longest single sentence recommended was 20 years in prison on a felony charge of residential burglary.
Following the jury trial and recommended sentences, Circuit Judge Gordon Webb took the matter under advisement.
In a letter the following week, Judge Webb said the court was going to provide Cobb’s sentencing in accordance with the jury verdicts. In addition to the 20 years on the residential burglary count, Cobb was sentenced to 15 years each on two theft of property charges, five years on a criminal mischief charge, and five years each on two breaking or entering charges, as well as one year in the county jail on a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief to commit breaking or entering, totaling 61 years.
Judge Webb’s ruling modified the jury’s recommendation only to the extent two felony breaking or entering sentences of five years each and the misdemeanor count would run concurrently with the other sentences. By law, the misdemeanor has to run concurrently. His decision reduced the total amount of the sentences from 61 to 55 years.
Cobb argued all seven offenses turned on the fact the evidence in the case was entirely circumstantial. He argued the state failed to produce any direct evidence of his involvement in the crimes and further left the jury to rely on speculation and conjecture to convict him.
Judge Meredith B. Switzer writes the appeals court agrees the evidence was circumstantial. However, she writes circumstantial evidence may constitute substantial evidence to support a conviction if it excludes every other reasonable hypothesis other than the guilt of the accused.
In the AR Court of Appeals decision made available Wednesday, the appeals court notes Cobb and codefendant Anthony Contreras entered the property along Water Tower Lane in Summit, bypassing a locked gate.
They began walking “suspiciously” as they approached the residence on the property and then split up, with one going to the front and one to the rear of the home.
When confronted by law enforcement, Cobb began to run, but was apprehended.
When questioned why he was on the property, he said he it was a shortcut to a nearby grocery. However, the store was in the opposite direction.
When apprehended, Cobb had a backpack and a ratchet the victim testified looked like his property.
In addition, a game camera captured images of a man with a laundry basket of items. While the man’s image was not visible, his clothing resembled those worn by Cobb when he was apprehended.
The court noted given the entirety of the circumstantial evidence, the jury could conclude without resorting to speculation or conjection Cobb has committed the offenses.
Background:
Cobb and 43-year-old Contreras of Summit were arrested and charged after deputies responded to a reported burglary.
Photo: Anthony Contreras
According to the probable cause affidavit, while processing the scene, from the deck of the residence one of the officers observed two male subjects, later identified as Cobb and Contreras, walking toward the residence. The residence had a locked gate at its entrance, which led to the officers parking their patrol cars nearly 100 yards south of the home.
The officer observed Cobb go to the front of the residence and Contreras to the rear, where he walked within a few feet of the Marion County corporal standing on the deck.
When ordered to stop and make his hands visible, Contreras dropped an item from his hand. Cobb was being escorted to the deck area at this point by the second officer.
When asked if the two suspects knew the owner and why were they were on the property, Cobb said he had seen three guys running from the location of the gate and was curious what was going on.
When Contreras was ordered to stop, Cobb was seen running toward the woods north of the residence carrying a ratchet, with a socket and a bag. The ratchet had been observed earlier on the ground in the driveway.
The bag and ratchet were identified by the homeowner as his property.
The report notes 15 firearms were reported missing, with extensive damage to the inside of the residence and to one of the gun safes. Other safes were reported stolen. In addition to the residence, items were missing from two storage buildings and a camper trailer.
The burglary was believed to have been going on for several days, while the owners were in Florida. Items were taken down a power line easement and staged for pickup, possibly at the railroad tracks.
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