http://m.nwaonline.com/news/2016/dec/07/torres-files-notice-of-appeal-filed-in-/A notice of appeal was filed last week on behalf of the Bella Vista father who was sentenced to death for killing his 6-year-old son (...)
http://m.nwaonline.com/news/2016/dec/07/torres-files-notice-of-appeal-filed-in-/A notice of appeal was filed last week on behalf of the Bella Vista father who was sentenced to death for killing his 6-year-old son (...)
Cathy Torres took a plea of agreement on Wednesday to avoid the death penalty.
Torres pleaded guilty to capital murder and battery and was sentenced to life without parole for the capital murder charge and 20 years for the battery charge, according to Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith.
Mauricio Alejandro Torres is set to be retried beginning Feb. 18 in his son's death, which a medical examiner said resulted from him being sodomized with a stick.
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Torres argued in his appeal the judge should have ruled the state failed to prove its case for the death sentence. The state Supreme Court agreed, saying prosecutors must prove an element of rape occurred in Arkansas if the rape is a required element to support the death penalty.
The court said, because the abuse happened in Missouri, rape cannot be the aggravating factor for a death penalty.
Nathan Smith, Benton County's prosecutor amended the capital murder charge under the theory Torres knowingly killed a child. Torres also will be retried on the first-degree battery charge.
Juror call set for retrial of Arkansas man convicted in son's deathA northwest Arkansas judge says at least 100 potential jurors will be called for the retrial of a man charged with killing his 6-year-old son by sexually assaulting him with a stick. Court records first reported by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette show Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren on Friday said a list of 250 potential jurors will be chosen with 100 told to appear Feb. 18 for possible selection for the trial of 50-year-old Mauricio Torres for the 2015 death of Isaiah Torres.
Benton County Judge Brad Karren questioned 114 potential jurors Tuesday. The first part of the jury selection lasted about three hours, and then Judge Karren excused ten people.
Torres was found guilty Wednesday of murdering his 6-year-old son Isaiah Torres. Thursday, the jury began hearing testimony in the sentencing phase of the trial.
The prosecution called Quinton Martin, age 24, a stepson of Mauricio Torres, to the stand. He wore shackles on his arms and legs.
Martin testified about physical abuse Torres inflicted upon him as a child.
When a prosecuting attorney asked Martin a question about sexual abuse, Martin jumped out of the witness stand and over the court reporter.
Martin then ran 15 to 20 feet toward the table where Torres and his attorneys sat. They flipped the table up on its side to stop Martin.
Law enforcement inside the courtroom got to Martin and held him down, crying and screaming.
UPDATE: A judge has granted the defense’s request for a mistrial in the Mauricio Torres case, according to Prosecutor Nathan Smith.
Smith says that jurors were notified that they have been dismissed.
Karren said there's no conceivable way for the jury to disregard the fear and passion they witnessed and experienced during the incident.
Karren decided Torres will get a new trial but agreed to give prosecutors time to convince him to let the guilty verdicts stand and have a new jury decide Torres' punishment.
The issue will be addressed at a March 19 hearing.
A new trial would be Torres' third.