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(CN) An Arkansas man will be tried a fourth time for murder after the state’s high court on Thursday overturned his latest conviction because of the prosecutor’s campaign activities during trial, which it found to be an “abuse and exploitation of the judicial system.” “This kind of conduct has no place in the administration of justice and should not have been permitted,” Justice Shawn Womack wrote in the ruling. “The circuit court should have dealt promptly with the prosecutor’s improper campaigning in the courthouse during trial.” (Courthouse News photo/Kelsey Jukam) A state jury sentenced Marvin Stanton to life in prison last year for the 2015 murder of Jesse Hamilton following an altercation over a gas station parking spot. Prosecutors claimed Stanton, riding a motorcycle, initiated a verbal and physical altercation with Hamilton, which they say ended when Stanton pulled a handgun from his waistband and shot the 22-year-old victim to death. ....
Supreme Court again reverses murder conviction, this time for courthouse campaigning by the prosecutor December 17, 202011:59 am REBUKED: Prosecutor Stephanie Barrett and Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson were blistered in a Supreme Court ruling today. Photo from her Facebook page. Electioneering by the Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Barrett has resulted in the reversal of the third trial of a first-degree murder charge against Marvin Stanton. Advertisement The court also sent a reproof to judges who’ve politicked with jury pools or allowed it, as happened in this case heard by Judge Kirk Johnson. Stanton was convicted and sentenced to life for shooting Jesse Hamilton during an argument outside a Texarkana gas station. The conviction was reversed on a direct appeal and then a mistrial was declared in his second trial. He was convicted at a third trial, but the Supreme Court today ordered a fourth trial because of the prosecutor’s ....