A man whose murder conviction and life sentence were overturned last year by the Arkansas Supreme Court is scheduled to face a second Miller County jury in March.
Marvin Arrell Stanton, 51, was found guilty of murder by a Miller County jury in May 2016 in the Sept. 25, 2015, shooting of Jesse James Hamilton, 22, in the parking lot of the Raceway convenience store and gas station on State Line Avenue in Texarkana, Ark. The following May, the Arkansas Supreme Court tossed Stanton's conviction and ordered a new trial in an opinion that found the jury heard testimony about Stanton's prior aggressive conduct during the guilt or innocence phase of trial that shouldn't have been admitted.
At a hearing Thursday morning before Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson, Stanton's defense lawyer, Patrick Benca of Little Rock, and Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black argued a long list of standard pretrial motions. The motions concerned jury selection, evidentiary issues and procedures involving witnesses.
Jury selection in the case is scheduled to begin the afternoon of March 26 at the Miller County courthouse.
At Stanton's first trial, witnesses testified that Stanton started a fight with Hamilton in the parking lot of the Raceway over a parking spot Sept. 25, 2015. Stanton, a much larger man than Hamilton, pulled up on a motorcycle and demanded Hamilton move his pickup from the spot where Stanton regularly preferred to park his bike, witnesses said.
Witnesses testified that Stanton started a physical confrontation with Hamilton, but Stanton claimed Hamilton stepped on his toes in an attempt to knock him from his feet. As the two men fought, Hamilton got the better of Stanton, who pulled out a .45 caliber pistol and shot Hamilton in the abdomen after a friend of Stanton's pulled Hamilton away, according to witness testimony.
Stanton claimed he fired in self-defense. If convicted of murder, Stanton faces 10 to 40 years or life in prison.