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Court orders new trial in Montgomery County murder case Thursday, Jan 31, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state Court of Appeals ordered a new trial Wednesday for a man convicted of second-degree murder in Montgomery County. A circuit judge erred when he allowed a jury to hear a statement from the defendant's sister that implicated her brother in the killing, the appeals court said in its unanimous decision reversing William Ike Seaton Jr.'s conviction in the 2005 shooting death of Gene Woodall in the small community of Story. Seaton argued he shot Woodall in self-defense. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. During the trial, Judge Jerry Wayne Looney allowed into evidence a written statement Seaton's sister, Debbie Pope, gave to investigators after the shooting. In the statement, Pope said her brother called her the night Woodall was killed, both before the shooting to say he planned to kill Woodall, and afterward to tell her Woodall was dead. Looney allowed Pope's statement into evidence because deputies were unable to locate her to serve a subpoena. In his appeal, Seaton argued Looney abused his discretion when he admitted the statement. In its ruling Wednesday, the appeals court said Seaton should have been allowed to confront his accuser. "Her statement was admitted over objections based upon hearsay rules and the Confrontation Clause," Judge John Robbins wrote for the court. "This statement was offered for the truth of the matter it asserted and cannot be deemed harmless beyond a reasonable doubt," Robbins wrote. "On this point, we must reverse and remand for a new trial." |
