A man convicted in May 2024 of bilking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency, in conjunction with its director, Maurice Taggart, failed in his appeal to the state Court of Appeals.
Roderick Morris of Houston, was convicted in Jefferson County Circuit Court on 41 counts of second-degree forgery and 38 counts of theft of property. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, fined $317, 535 and ordered to pay $667,000 in restitution. Prosecutors said that between May 2019 and August 2021, Morris conspired with Taggart, who at the time was director of the Urban Renewal Agency, to steal $667,000 by collecting payments from the agency for demolition work that was never done.
Morris and Taggart, who was shot to death in August 2023, were high school classmates in Pine Bluff.
Morris claimed in his appeal that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction, but all three Appeals Court judges ruled otherwise.
The decision, rendered on Wednesday, was written by Appeals Court Judge Wendy Wood, with much of the body of the ruling highlighting the evidence that was put forth at trial. Key parts of that evidence included the fact that Morris was the sole owner of RM Group, which received the checks from the Urban Renewal Agency, that Taggart was the person keying in the invoices into the Urban Renewal accounting software for payment and that the two men spoke hundreds of times over several months, with many of the calls happening at night, leading investigators to believe the men had a personal relationship.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Morris first argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of second-degree forgery because there was no evidence that he was aware of Taggart’s scheme or had a purpose to commit forgery,” stated the decision. “Morris’s convictions for second-degree forgery are based on his status as Taggart’s accomplice. A person is criminally liable for the conduct of another person when he is the accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense.”
The decision also noted that Jordan Saunders, a staff auditor with Arkansas Legislative Audit, testified that she oversaw an investigative audit of the Urban Renewal Agency in 2022 and that she made a spreadsheet listing all 38 checks issued to RM Group by the agency.
“She said that all the invoices for the checks issued to RM Group were entered into the accounting system by Taggart and were secondarily approved by Lloyd Franklin (Sr.),” stated the decision. “The amount totaled $667,384.”
Franklin, who was and still is the agency’s treasurer, testified that the agency is run by a five-member commission and that he is and has been a commissioner since Taggart became the executive director in 2018.
“Franklin said that he … reviews the invoices over $1,000 that are submitted for approval,” stated the decision. “He said that he approved all of Taggart’s checks by simply looking at the invoice, recipient, and amount. He said that he trusted Taggart, whom he knew to be an attorney, and did not verify that the invoices were supported by the required documentation.”
Morris contended that he assumed the demolition work on the houses was being done and that he issued the invoices based on his assumption that Taggart was taking care of matters.
“However, there was absolutely no evidence presented that anyone did the work for which RM Group was paid: not a subcontractor, not Morris, not Taggart, no one,” stated the decision. “The only evidence of any work done on any of the properties for which Morris was paid was that it was done by another company, EPA. So, if Morris thought he was ‘subcontracting’ jobs, he failed to present any evidence regarding to whom he was subcontracting the jobs, any documents to support this arrangement, any evidence that anyone connected with Morris was supervising this work, any evidence that he paid these alleged subcontractors for the work, or any evidence that Taggart paid anyone other than RM Group for the invoiced amounts. ‘A jury need not lay aside its common sense in evaluating the ordinary affairs of life and may infer a defendant’s guilt from improbable explanations of incriminating conduct.’ Burley v. State, 348 Ark. 422, 431, 73 S.W.3d 600, 606 (2002). “Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we hold there is substantial evidence to support Morris’s second-degree-forgery convictions.”
Morris also claimed the state did not have sufficient evidence to convict him on the theft charges, but the decision said that point should have been made at trial.
“Specifically, he alleges that the State did not present any evidence that he knowingly committed theft,” stated the decision. “Because this argument is not preserved for our review, we affirm Morris’s theft convictions.
“To preserve a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence in a jury trial, a criminal defendant must make a motion for directed verdict at the close of the evidence offered by the prosecution and at the close of all the evidence,” adding that the motion “must state the specific grounds.”
“Without a circuit court ruling on a specific motion, there is nothing for this court to review.”
Taggart was charged with the same crimes that Morris was charged with, but Taggart was killed before his case came to trial.
Appeals Court Judges Brandon Harrison and Waymond Brown concurred with Judge Wood’s written decision. Lisa-Marie Norris, an Alma attorney, represented Morris, while Rebecca Kane, assistant attorney general, responded to Morris’ appeal. Circuit Judge Robert Edwards presided at trial.