Please E-mail suggested additions, comments and/or corrections to Kent@MoreLaw.Com.
Help support the publication of case reports on MoreLaw
Date: 02-16-2023
Case Style:
State of Arkansas v. Mauricio Torres
Case Number:
Judge:
Court: Circuit Court, Benton County, Arkansas
Plaintiff's Attorney: Benton County District Attorney's Office
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Bentonville, Arkansas criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with battery and capital murder.
Mauricion Torres, age 53, of Bella Vista, Arkansas was accused of shoving a stick in his son’s rectum, causing an infection that led to the boy’s death. Maurice Isaiah Torres was pronounced dead March 30, 2015, at a Bella Vista medical facility.
On November 15, 2016, a Benton County jury convicted Torres of capital murder and first-degree battery in the death of his six-year-old son Maurice "Isaiah" Torres. Torres was sentenced to death for the murder and twenty years’ imprisonment and a fine for the battery. Torres appealed, and this court reversed. Torres v. State , 2019 Ark. 101, 571 S.W.3d 456. The State retried Torres. On March 5, 2020, a Benton County jury again found Torres guilty of the capital murder and first-degree battery of Isaiah. During the penalty phase of the trial, the State called as a witness Torres's adult stepson, who was shackled at his ankles due to his incarceration at the Arkansas Division of Correction. When the prosecutor asked the witness whether Torres had sexually abused him, the witness leapt out of the witness
box and lunged toward Torres in an apparent effort to assault him or his attorneys. Multiple court personnel were required to subdue the witness. During the struggle, a table was overturned, and papers were scattered. In the aftermath, the circuit court instructed jurors to retire to the jury room.
After the jury left the courtroom, Torres's counsel moved for "a mistrial of this sentencing phase" and "of the sentencing proceeding." Initially, Torres's counsel stated that he was not moving for a mistrial "at guilt." The State opposed the motion, and the circuit court called for a lunch recess. After the recess, and outside the presence of the jury, the circuit court announced that it would declare a mistrial and that the mistrial would cover both the guilt and penalty phases of the trial. The defense then stated that it favored a mistrial that "covers the whole landscape, guilt and penalty." Despite the fact that the events leading to the mistrial happened after the jury found Torres guilty, the circuit court concluded that Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-4-602(3)(A) (Repl. 2013) requires that when a defendant is found guilty of capital murder, the same jury must sit again in order to determine the sentence. Ultimately, the circuit court entered a written order declaring a mistrial as to both the guilt and the penalty phases of the trial. The State moved for reconsideration of the circuit court's decision and argued that no statute or case law prohibited a sentencing-only mistrial and that Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-4-616(a) and Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.3 contemplated sentencing by a jury other than the one that decided guilt despite the provisions of Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-4-602(3)(A). After Torres responded, the circuit court, in a March 19, 2020 order, denied the State's motion.
Outcome: Torres was convicted in 2016 but his conviction was reversed.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: