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Court upholds conviction of West Memphis man in trooper's death Friday, Feb 15, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the capital murder conviction of a West Memphis man in the death of an Arkansas state trooper. Wesley Jefferson was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the September 2005 death of Trooper Mark Carthron, who died after being hit by another officer's cruiser engaged in a car chase involving Jefferson. Prosecutors said Jefferson and an accomplice robbed a Forrest City convenience store and fled east in a stolen car on Interstate 40, with authorities in pursuit. Carthron put down a spike strip in an attempt to deflate the getaway car's tires, and Jefferson ran over the strip and came to a stop. Carthron then ran onto the highway to pick up the strip and was hit by a vehicle driven by Trooper Lowry Astin. Carthron later died from his injuries. In addition to capital murder, Jefferson was convicted of aggravated robbery, theft of property and fleeing. He was sentenced to 36 years total on those charges, to run concurrent with his life sentence. On appeal, Jefferson, 28, claimed there was insufficient evidence to support a capital murder conviction because he did not directly cause Carthron's death and had no intent to commit murder. He argued Carthron's death resulted from the trooper running onto the highway to retrieve the spike strip, contrary to his training in the usage of the strips. In affirming Jefferson's conviction, the Supreme Court noted that a defendant may be found to have caused a result if the result would not have occurred but for the conduct of the defendant. "But for Jefferson's aggravated robbery, speeding and fleeing, Trooper Carthron would not have been in the roadway and would not have been hit by Trooper Astin," Chief Justice Jim Hannah wrote in the opinion. The Supreme Court also said there was sufficient evidence to show that Jefferson manifested extreme indifference to the value of human life. The state did not have to prove that Jefferson intended to commit murder, the court ruled. The court also rejected arguments by Jefferson that the phrase "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life" is unconstitutionally vague and that he should have been granted a mistrial because of improper remarks by the prosecutor. The court reviewed the prosecutor's remarks and found nothing improper. |
