A Johnson County sheriff ’s deputy convicted of perjury was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine Friday, Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons said.
Gibbons told the jury Friday that he didn’t think Glenda Morrison, a first-time offender, should be sentenced to prison and instead suggested a fine or probation as a deterrent to others.
Morrison, 45, was convicted of perjury for denying to a Johnson County circuit judge that she made comments about Tommy Bowden in October 2012 to a jury that had convicted him of murder during the jury’s sentencing deliberations the next day.
Morrison had been serving as a bailiff during the trial. She admitted to Arkansas State Police that she had made comments to the jury, two months after telling Circuit Judge William Pearson that she had not spoken to jury members.
Before her trial, Morrison had been returned to active duty after being suspended with pay in February.
Her conviction means that she will no longer be able to work in law enforcement, vote or own a gun, her attorney said Friday.
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 12/22/2013