LITTLE ROCK — A lawyer for an Arkansas man sentenced to death for the killing of a police officer wants the state Supreme Court to grant a new trial for her client.
Jerry Lard was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death last year for the 2011 shooting death of Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt.
Attorney Janice Vaughn told the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday that the judge overseeing Lard's trial let his sympathy for Schmidt's family get in the way of his duty on the bench.
Vaughn said the judge failed to sequester some of Schmidt's family who testified at sentencing. She's asking for a new trial for Lard.
The state wants the high court to uphold Lard's conviction and sentence.