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Court affirms Pine Bluff murder conviction Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the first-degree murder and aggravated robbery convictions of a Pine Bluff man in the 2004 shooting death of a 19-year-old man. Timothy O'Guinn was sentenced to concurrent 20-year sentences last year in Jefferson County Circuit Court. He was accused in the death of Patrick Mickens, who was shot during a robbery at a west Pine Bluff apartment complex. O'Guinn's first trial ended in a mistrial in 2006 when the jury deadlocked. He was convicted after a second trial in 2007. In his appeal, O'Guinn argued there was insufficient evidence to support the verdicts. The appeals court rejected the argument in a unanimous decision Wednesday, finding "substantial" evidence to support O'Guinn's involvement in the robbery. "Because (O'Guinn's) accomplice caused the victim's death in furtherance of the felony under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, there was also substantial evidence to support (O'Guinn's) first-degree murder conviction," Judge John B. Robbins wrote. Three other defendants pleaded guilty to various charges before O'Guinn's trial. Roderick Dawon Fells, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Andra Omar Wilkins, 17, and Antonio Donte Murphy, 19, both pleaded guilty to robbery and each was sentenced to 10 years in prison. |
