PARAGOULD — A jury deliberated for less than an hour Thursday evening before finding Jerry Lard of Trumann guilty of capital murder for the April 2011 fatal shooting of a Trumann police officer.
The jury of seven women and five men in Greene County Circuit Court also found Lard, 38, guilty of attempted capital murder for trying to kill another Tru- mann officer and for possession of methamphetamine. Before Lard’s capital-murder trial began last week, prosecutors dropped a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm that had also been filed against him.
Family members of slain Trumann officer Jonathan Schmidt, 30, are to testify this morning in the sentencing phase of the trial. Schmidt’s parents, Donald Schmidt Sr. and Kathy Schmidt; his wife, Andrea Schmidt; and his brother, Donald Schmidt Jr. are expected to testify.
Lard’s half brother, Ricky Lard of Trumann, is to testify on his behalf.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Defense attorneys claimed that Lard suffered from a mental deficiency and did not possess the ability to deliberately plan the shooting. Premeditation is a required component to prove capital murder.
Jurors can either sentence Lard to death or to life in prison without parole.
Lard stood motionless, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and dark slacks, as Circuit Judge Brent Davis read the guilty verdicts at 5:45 p.m. Thursday — about 50 minutes after the jury began deliberations.
After the verdicts were read, Lard smiled and nodded at Ricky Lard, who sat in the courtroom with other members of Lard’s family.
About 30 of Schmidt’s family members and friends — who attended the two-week trial and often shed tears during testimony about the officer’s death — sat silently during the verdict.
Second Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington said he could not comment on the verdicts Thursday evening because Davis had prohibited attorneys and family members from talking about the case until it is completed.
“I’ll be glad to talk to you tomorrow,” he said, referring to the conclusion of the trial today.
A key element in the trial was a video of the shooting taken by dashboard cameras on Schmidt’s and Sgt. Corey Overstreet’s patrol cars. Overstreet provided backup for Schmidt during the traffic stop.
The video, which prosecutors played several times during the trial, showed Schmidt stop a car driven by Brian Keith Elumbaugh on Pine Street in south Trumann on the night of April 12, 2011. Lard was a passenger in the car.
Schmidt conducted a license check on Elumbaugh’s car and found that it had no liability insurance.
He arrested Elumbaugh on a charge of failing to appear in court on a violation of the city’s dog leash law and handcuffed him, placing Elumbaugh in front of his patrol car.
Schmidt then asked Lard for his name and radioed a Trumann police dispatcher to see if Lard had any outstanding warrants against him. When the dispatcher replied that authorities wanted Lard on a rape warrant, Schmidt walked around to the passenger side of Elumbaugh’s car.
The video showed that as Schmidt opened the rear door, Lard pointed his .25-caliber handgun and fired at the officer, striking him under the left side of his chin.
The video showed Lard get out of the vehicle and shoot at Overstreet, who was not hit.
Lard chased the two officers, the video showed, and he shot Schmidt two more times before running out of bullets, prosecutors said. Bullets struck Schmidt in the right wrist and in his bulletresistant vest.
Lard then used Schmidt’s .40-caliber service weapon to shoot Schmidt in the face at close range as Schmidt pleaded for his life.
Elumbaugh testified Monday that as Schmidt stopped his car, Lard said: “Tonight’s the night.” Elumbaugh testified that Lard told him in February that if Lard was ever stopped by police and Elumbaugh was with him, Elumbaugh “better get out of the way because there’d be a war.”
In closing statements Thursday, Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Kimberly Dale and Andy Fulkerson used Lard’s words from the night of the shooting.
Dale asked jurors to convict Lard of capital murder, saying the state proved that Lard acted with premeditation.
“Tonight’s the night when you must follow the law,” she said.
Fulkerson showed jurors the video three times during his closing statements.
At one point, Lard was heard yelling at Schmidt seconds before shooting him with the .40-caliber handgun.
“What the f you got, b*,” Lard said.
Several of the officer’s relatives and friends cried softly in court during the video’s showing.
“You’re going to have to tell him [Lard] what you’ve got,” Fulkerson told jurors as he completed his closing remarks.
In her closing, defense attorney Katherine Streett said Lard acted impulsively and was mentally unable to plan Schmidt’s shooting.
“This case boils down to what was in Jerry’s mind,” Streett said. “You have to determine what was Jerry’s state of mind on April 12, 2011.”
Defense witnesses testified earlier that medical evaluations of Lard showed that he suffered brain damage caused by childhood trauma to his head and by chronic methamphetamine use.
“Jerry’s abnormality was not only manifested by chronic meth use,” Streett said. “It’s more. His brain has changed the way it works.”
Thursday morning, Helen Mayberg, an Emory University professor of neurology and psychology in Atlanta, said she studied brain scans of Lard provided by physicians who contended that Lard has damage to the frontal lobes of his brain.
“Is this a normal scan?” Fulkerson asked Mayberg on the witness stand while showing her images of Lard’s brain.
“It is to me,” she said.
Two Craighead County jail employees also testified Thursday that while authorities held Lard at the Jonesboro jail, they heard Lard express remorse that he didn’t shoot Overstreet.
“He said, ‘It’s funny I shot one cop and he’s dead, and the other is still walking. I should have shot him [Overstreet], too.’” Jacob Saffell, a booking officer at the jail, testified.
Thursday’s quick verdict was a contrast to the slow pace of the trial, which began on July 16.
Attorneys spent five days choosing the jury. The start of the trial was briefly delayed when the courtroom’s audio system malfunctioned and workers had to repair it.
A metal detector at the entrance to the courtroom broke Monday, also causing a setback. Physicians called to testify at times gave long answers, prompting Streett at one point to frustratingly plead for Davis to ask a witness to answer with a “yes or no.”
After Schmidt’s and Lard’s family members testify today, jurors will determine whether Lard should be executed or given a sentence of life in prison without parole.
The hearing is to begin at 9 a.m.
Defense attorneys had requested that the trial be moved to Paragould from Harrisburg in Poinsett County because of pretrial publicity.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/27/2012