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Court rejects 'warning shot' argument in capital murder appeal Friday, May 16, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed the capital murder conviction of a North Little Rock man who claimed he meant to fire a "warning shot" when he shot into an occupied vehicle, killing one person. Wilson Antonio Price was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the March 2006 fatal shooting of Keith Harris, 26, outside the Shorter Garden Apartments in North Little Rock. Price was 25 at the time of the shooting. Price testified at his trial that on the night of the shooting a vehicle began pursuing his vehicle, and several shots were fired from the pursuing vehicle. He said he pulled up to the gate of the apartments and fired a shot to scare off his pursuers. The shot hit Harris, a passenger in the other vehicle, in the head. Harris later died at a North Little Rock hospital. Harris' cousins, Mark and Terry Harris, testified they were in the vehicle with Keith Harris, with Mark Harris driving, when they began following Price's vehicle, mistakenly thinking it was driven by a friend. The only shot fired was the one that killed Keith Harris, they testified. Tavio Garrison, a passenger in Price's vehicle, testified that no shots were fired from the vehicle driven by Mark Harris. He also testified that on the night of the shooting Price had used PCP. On appeal, Price argued that he intended to fire a harmless warning shot and did not intend to kill Harris. In its opinion Thursday, the Supreme Court said the state presented sufficient evidence to support a capital murder conviction. "Price need not have intended to engage in life-threatening activity against Keith Harris specifically. It is sufficient that he shot in the direction of a car he knew to be occupied," Justice Annabelle Clinton Imber wrote for the court. |
