A Little Rock man convicted of first-degree battery in the shooting of his neighbor will get a new trial because prosecutors were wrongly allowed to give details of a separately reported crime at his trial, the Arkansas Court of Appeals said Wednesday.
Police developed Henry Williams, now 49, as a suspect based on a description of him offered by a woman identified in the ruling as Williams' "alleged ex-girlfriend." The woman said Williams assaulted her. The incident involving the woman occurred a short time and distance from the shooting that injured Jacent Winston on Feb. 22, 2014, officers testified at Williams' trial.
Witnesses said they saw the shooter wearing all-red clothing, and Winston later picked Williams out of a photo lineup, according to transcripts of trial testimony.
Williams said the shooting was in self-defense after Winston pulled a gun on him, and he denied knowing or having dated the woman.
Because police used the description in the woman's crime report to link Williams to the nearby shooting, the allegation should have been admissible in court, Circuit Court Judge Cliff Hoofman wrote in his opinion.
But details about what happened to the woman -- including an officer's testimony that the girlfriend had injuries on her face and a split lip -- gave an unfair impression of Williams' character to the jury in the shooting case, Hoofman wrote. Williams was not prosecuted for the matter concerning the woman.
Because the only other accounts of the shooting were Williams' narrative against Winston's, Hoofman ordered the case be heard again at the trial court.
Williams was listed as an inmate Wednesday at the Grimes Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison.
Metro on 10/27/2016