Hawkins v. State

Ray Thornton, Justice.. Appellant, Kenneth Hawkins was convicted of rape, and sentenced to life imprisonment as a habitual offender pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-501 (Supp. 2001). This conviction stems from the rape of appellant’s stepdaughter, R.T., who was under the age of fourteen at the time the offense occurred.

During appellant’s trial, the physician who treated R.T. after the rape, was permitted to testify that R.T. identified appellant as her attacker. Appellant objected to this testimony arguing that it was hearsay and that it should have been excluded. The trial court overruled…