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Parole board recommends clemency for convicted murderer, meth maker Saturday, Jan 26, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state Parole Board on Friday recommended executive clemency for a woman who was convicted of capital murder in the death of a Little Rock teenager and a man who was convicted of making methamphetamine in a Fort Smith movie theater. The board recommended Gov. Mike Beebe grant clemency to Twyanna Faye Martin, 49, and Christopher Wayne Elmore, 29. The recommendations will go to Beebe after a 30-day public notice period. Martin was sentenced to life in prison without parole in April 1978 in the death of 17-year-old Calvin Earl Smith. Martin and three other people were accused of kidnapping Smith from a Little Rock restaurant and taking him to the bank of the Arkansas River in North Little Rock, where Smith either was pushed from an 18-foot-high dock into the river or jumped to get away from his abductors. Smith's body was found in the river a week later. On her application for clemency, Martin wrote that the apartment she shared with her boyfriend was broken into, and the couple's neighbors told them Smith was responsible. Martin, her boyfriend and two friends of her boyfriend then found Smith and took him to the river. "The four of them got out the car." Martin wrote. "I remained in the car. When they came back to the car the boy wasn't with them. I asked them were he was at and I was told he was at the river back (sic)." Martin wrote that she received too much time for a crime she did not commit, but she is sorry for what happened and has asked Smith's family for forgiveness. Smith's sister has gone before the parole board with Martin's family to ask for her release, according to Martin. "I have learned my lesson and most of all don't take crime in your own hands," Martin wrote on the application. The board voted 4-1 to recommend clemency for Martin. On a worksheet recording the vote, board member Richard Mays Jr. noted that 12 family members and numerous others support clemency. Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley and Pulaski County Sheriff Doc Holladay notified the board that they oppose clemency for Martin. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey indicated he has no objection to clemency. The board also voted 4-1 to recommend clemency for Elmore. Elmore was convicted of manufacturing a controlled substance and sentenced to 12 years in prison in September 2002. Fort Smith police said they were investigating a possible burglary at the Malco Theater, which was under renovation, when they found four people and a meth lab in the theater's balcony. Elmore told police the meth lab was his and said the other people did not have anything to do with it. On his application for clemency, Elmore wrote, "I feel that the ends of justice have been met. I am ready to enter back into society and be an asset to my community ..." Mays wrote that eight family members and Elmore's counselor support clemency and that Elmore has taken advantage of most of the classes offered at the Tucker unit, including drug rehabilitation classes. |
