Lawyers at the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday debated the intentions of Randeep Mann in 2009 when he conspired to have a grenade placed next to the car of the then-chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board.
The grenade exploded, disabling the chairman, Dr. Trent Pierce of West Memphis. Mann was found guilty in federal court of aiding and abetting the use of a weapon of mass destruction and sentenced to federal prison for life. In addition, Mann was found liable by a Crittenden County civil court jury last year for $122.5 million in damages to Pierce and his wife, Melissa.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday in an appeal of the civil case. Mann's attorneys disputed that their client intended to kill Pierce, chairman of the board that had twice stripped Mann of his medical license.
Mann's lawyers argued that the former Russellville doctor was wrongly denied the ability to defend himself in civil court by the Crittenden County circuit judge, who applied a legal doctrine preventing Mann from rehashing arguments that had already been tried in federal court.
A federal jury convicted Mann of the bombing charge, as well as multiple weapons charges after authorities found machine guns and grenades in a search of Mann's property. Prosecutors did not allege that Mann himself placed the grenade; no one has been charged as the bomber.
Pierce was on his way to work on Feb. 4, 2009, when he found a spare tire propped against his sport utility vehicle. When he moved the tire, it pulled out the pin on a grenade that was duct-taped to the tire. The grenade exploded and severely injured Pierce.
In his federal criminal case, Mann's attorneys had argued that the evidence connecting the doctor to the bombing was circumstantial. They appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to review the case in 2013.
To determine that Mann had conspired to use a weapon of mass destruction, the federal jury only had to find that his actions were against a "person or property," Mann's attorney -- Drake Mann, no relation to the imprisoned doctor -- argued before the Arkansas Supreme Court.
That's different from the civil case, where Drake Mann said his client has to be proved liable for his actions against the person.
The Pierces' attorney, Robert Cearley, said "it is utter fantasy" to argue that Mann conspired only to damage the car, without any desire to harm Pierce. Several of the justices voiced similar concerns.
"I'm having difficulty seeing how he could not have intended to harm," said Justice Rhonda Wood. "Why else would you put a grenade under a vehicle?"
Drake Mann argued that his client simply deserves a new civil trial in which he has the ability to present his version of the facts. Media coverage of the five-week federal trial, as well as the charge of using a "weapon of mass destruction," also cast prejudice against his client, Drake Mann said.
"Those are emotional words these days, against Randeep Mann, a foreign guy," said Drake Mann, whose client grew up in India.
After hearing oral arguments in the case Thursday, the justices will discuss the case among themselves and then issue a ruling.
Metro on 10/28/2016