LITTLE ROCK, Ark — The Arkansas Supreme Court has reversed a murder conviction of a Texarkana man after finding that jurors were improperly exposed to political campaigning by the case’s lead prosecutor.
The unanimous ruling on Thursday, Dec. 17 also overturned the life sentence of the defendant, Marvin Arrell Stanton, accused of fatally shooting another man over a parking space.
A Miller County jury found Stanton guilty in the 2015 shooting of 22-year-old Jesse James Hamilton. Witnesses said a fight began in the parking lot of a convenience store and gas station after Hamilton parked in the spot Stanton preferred.
The high court ordered a fourth trial and also excoriated the conduct of the prosecutor, Stephanie Potter Barrett, ruling she “shattered” the perception of justice by collecting signatures for her judicial campaign from members of the jury pool.
Stanton remains imprisoned at the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ Varner Unit.
