CLARKSVILLE -- A Johnson County man was sentenced to 28 years in prison Friday after a Circuit Court jury convicted him in the May 2015 shooting death of an auxiliary deputy.
The jury of six women and six men deliberated for more than six hours Friday before convicting Fred Kauffeld, 52, of first-degree murder and residential burglary. The jury deliberated for another 75 minutes and returned with a recommendation that Kauffeld be sentenced to 28 years in prison on the murder charge and five years and a $5,000 fine on the burglary charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Circuit Judge William Pearson followed the jury's recommendation in sentencing Kauffeld but omitted the fine.
Kauffeld faced two counts of capital murder, two counts of attempted capital murder and one count of residential burglary. The jury acquitted Kauffeld of the charges of attempted capital murder.
The first-degree murder charge on which Kauffeld was convicted was a lesser charge to one capital murder count that charged Kauffeld with killing auxiliary Deputy Sonny Smith while Kauffeld was in immediate flight from a burglary.
Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons set aside the second capital-murder count.
Gibbons had told jurors during closing arguments of the sentencing phase that the count regarding capital murder of an officer in the line of duty was an alternate charge to the one regarding capital murder during flight from burglary, and that they only could consider sentencing Kauffeld on the murder count regarding the flight from burglary.
Smith was killed May 15, 2015, while taking part in the search for Kauffeld after a break-in at a home in rural Johnson County. The shooting occurred on a road about 2 a.m. when testimony showed Kauffeld fired five times at Smith, hitting him twice.
Kauffeld testified that it was so dark that he couldn't see at whom he was shooting. He said he fired at someone he believed was trying to find and harm him. None of officers identified themselves as lawmen before the shooting, Kauffeld and other witnesses said.
Kauffeld was charged with attempted capital murder of two other auxiliary deputies who were with Smith and were in the line of fire when Kauffeld was shot.
Kauffeld testified Friday during the sentencing phase and apologized to Smith's family.
Gibbons asked jurors to sentence Kauffeld to life in prison. He said Kauffeld was a mature man who knew the ways of the world and had every advantage in life.
The prosecuting attorney said Smith was doing his job as an auxiliary deputy, a job for which he didn't receive any pay but did it to serve the community.
"How can we let four kids have their father back?" Gibbons said. "We can't. How can we let Amy Smith have her husband back? We can't. You have to take that into consideration."
Kauffeld's attorney, Bill James of Little Rock, asked jurors to grant Kauffeld leniency.
He said Kauffeld had never been in trouble with the law, was a son, a father and a Navy veteran. He admitted that Kauffeld made stupid mistakes in getting mixed up with drugs and a bad crowd.
Sentencing decisions were to send a message to the community, he said, but it was up to the jury to punish Kauffeld for what he did. Punishment for the sake of punishment was revenge, James said.
State Desk on 05/28/2016