A 50-year-old Jacksonville man whose first-degree murder trial ended in mistrial four months ago has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to a reduced charge for the beating death of his girlfriend.
Testimony by a Jacksonville police officer that murder defendant James Anthony Dokes "is known for violence" forced a judge to declare a mistrial Wednesday at his lawyers' request.
Lawyers for a 49-year-old Jacksonville man accused of beating his girlfriend to death defied prosecutors to prove he deliberately killed the woman, telling a Pulaski County jury Tuesday that she likely succumbed to injuries from a "horrific accident."