CARROLL COUNTY : Mistrial on firecracker valid cause, court rules
Posted on Friday, June 27, 2008
A Carroll County circuit judge acted appropriately in halting a trial over concerns jurors might have seen a suspected bomb — used as defense evidence — detonated in front of the courthouse, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday in Little Rock.
Michael David Koster, 44, of Green Forest argued that Judge Alan David Epley’s decision to declare a mistrial in his September 2005 trial amounted to a violation of his Fifth Amendment right against double jeopardy by forcing him to stand trial twice. He was convicted of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia at his second trial in March 2007 and received a three-year sentence, but jurors acquitted him of the charge that led to his attorney bringing an explosive device to his first trial, criminal possession of a prohibited weapon.
Methamphetamine, drug pipes and what authorities de- scribed as a “homemade bomb” were found at Koster’s car-repair shop in October 2003 by Green Forest police investigating a domestic disturbance at his home. At his first trial, Koster’s attorney, Cindy Baker of Berryville, brought the explosive device to court to show jurors the item police found was basically an elaborate firecracker that had been legally purchased, according to Thursday’s high-court decision written by Chief Justice Jim Hannah.
Baker showed the explosive to defense witness Scott Tucker, who testified that it was similar to the ones he had seen in Koster’s shop in a toolbox. He said the defendant bought the devices.
As Tucker testified, the judge asked Baker to hand him the device to inspect it, before realizing that it hadn’t been disarmed. The revelation led to Epley ordering his bailiff to take the device out of the courthouse, and the explosive was placed on the curb. The judge declined a suggestion to clear the courtroom, and Baker continued her questioning of Tucker until the court learned that the rest of the courthouse was being evacuated. Epley declared a recess until the next day, and police blew up the device outside.
When proceedings resumed, Baker asked that all charges be dismissed because the device — evidence that could clear her client — had been deliberately destroyed by the state. Baker also said she was concerned about how much jurors saw of the police effort to detonate the device.
Epley rejected the dismissal motion but did declare a mistrial. He too cited concerns about what jurors might have seen of the police handling the device, the actual explosion and his own reaction to realizing the explosive hadn’t been defused.
“The judge noted that, without seeking permission to do so, Baker had brought a live, explosive device into the courtroom,” the opinion states. “Accordingly, the judge determined that Baker’s actions had resulted in a delay of the case and that the trial could not be completed in the time the court had allotted for it.”
Attempts to reach Baker Thursday were unsuccessful.
In November 2005, Baker filed a dismissal motion, making the argument that a second trial would violate Koster’s constitutional rights. She maintained that Koster was being subjected to double jeopardy because the judge’s decision to halt the trial had been made over defense objections when Epley could have taken steps to allow the proceedings to continue. Both the federal and state constitutions forbid double jeopardy, the practice of trying defendants more than once for the same crime.
But the high court found Koster’s rights weren’t violated, ruling that Epley’s concerns about what the jurors might have seen outside the courtroom — be it the explosive being detonated or even the resulting police action — could have tainted their deliberations. If deliberations had been tainted, there was nothing Epley could do to fix them, the court ruled.
At the Supreme Court, the case is CR 07-1160, Michael David Koster v. State of Arkansas.
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