Jydge gregory holder calls in jury
Then according to Dixon, on Saturday, Holder met Dixon and Jenkins at the Pine Apartments where Holder instructed Dixon to pick up Jenkins between 4:30 p.m. On that Friday before the murder, Holder met with Dixon and instructed her to drive Greg Jenkins to where Carla was to be killed. Dixon testified that Holder discussed killing Carla on at least two occasions before finalizing those plans on Friday, June 22, 2001. Brenda Dixon, Holder's long time girlfriend and mother of Holder's fifteen-year-old son, testified that Holder decided to kill Carla because Carla was going to provide evidence against Holder in an insurance fraud matter in Louisiana. David Henson testified that Holder approached him and asked Henson if he would kill Carla.
Jydge gregory holder calls in jury trial#
With this standard in mind, we conclude that there was substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict, although other trial errors require reversal. In other words, if you have two equally reasonable conclusions as to what occurred, this merely gives rise to a suspicion of guilt which is not enough to support a conviction. Circumstantial evidence may provide the basis to support a conviction, but it must be consistent with the defendant's guilt and inconsistent with any other reasonable conclusion. Substantial evidence is that which is of sufficient force and character that it will, with reasonable certainty, compel a conclusion one way or the other, without resorting to speculation or conjecture. We affirm a conviction if substantial evidence exists to support it. This court has repeatedly held that in reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. With regard to our analysis of claims of insufficient evidence, this court recently stated: Holder raises the issue of sufficiency of the evidence for his first point on appeal. The jury returned a guilty verdict, and Holder was sentenced to life without parole. It was alleged that Holder, along with Brenda Dixon and Greg Jenkins, entered into a plan to kill Carla and carried out that plan on June 23, 2001. Holder was later charged with capital murder. Police believed they found a number of inconsistencies in Holder's story and began an investigation. Holder's arm was wounded, and he had small holes in the bill of his cap. Holder told police that two black men in a Cadillac accosted and robbed him when Holder and Carla pulled over to the side of the road because of an argument about his driving. Shotgun casings were found on the ground. When police arrived, they found Carla Knowlton Smith dead in the front seat of her Ford Expedition that had been driven to the scene by Elbert Holder. Late in the evening of June 23, 2001, police arrived at the scene of a shooting on Highway 85, south of Oneida, in Phillips County. However, we also hold that the trial court erred in finding a Batson violation by Holder, and further erred in denying Holder his right to use his peremptory challenges that the trial court then kept a juror on the panel who should have been excused for cause, and that therefore, the case must be reversed and remanded for a new trial. We hold that the trial court did not err in denying the directed-verdict motion, and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to recuse. Holder argues that the trial court erred in 1) refusing to recuse 2) refusing to order the appearance of subpoenaed witnesses at the recusal hearing 3) denying his motion for a directed verdict 4) finding a Batson violation in voir dire 5) putting persons on the jury who should have been excused 6) refusing to allow him to exercise all his peremptory challenges and 7) allowing a juror to remain on the case where the juror was a first cousin of a witness and failed to reveal the relationship in voir dire.
Hodges, Ass't Att'y Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.Įlbert Holder appeals his conviction on capital murder and his sentence of life without parole.