A motion to move the first-degree murder trial of now 20-year-old Baxter Stowers of Salesville from Baxter County Circuit Court to juvenile court has been denied.
Retired Circuit Judge Gordon Webb, assigned to hear the case by the Arkansas Supreme Court, turned down a defense motion to change courts in a ruling filed Wednesday.
Stowers jury trial is set to begin in Baxter County Circuit Court August 14 and is expected to last four days.
A hearing was held Monday so the state and defense attorneys could argue their points for and against moving the case.
Stowers and one of his attorneys, Shane Wilkinson of Bentonville, appeared on video, and Chris Carter, who appeared for the state, was present in the courtroom for Monday’s hearing.
Wilkinson filed a motion in mid-February last year asking for a change of courts.
Stowers is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of then 41-year-old Jeremy Wayne Alman of Salesville in early October 2020. Stowers was 17 years old at the time of the incident — just two days short of his 18th birthday.
In recent filings in the case, Wilkinson had indicated his client will claim self-defense.
Judge Webb earlier signed orders for psychological examinations to be completed on Stowers at his attorney’s request.
The exams were done to determine if Stowers was mentally fit to proceed in his case and if he could be held criminally responsible for his acts.
Since the information is sealed, the public can only assume the person evaluated has been found fit to proceed and able to be held criminally responsible if the case continues beyond the time the evaluation reports are returned to the court. Both of Stowers’ evaluations were filed with the court in November last year.
MOVE TO JUVENILE COURT?
Wilkinson petitioned the court to consider moving Stowers’ case to juvenile court and designating it for Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction (EJJ).
The EJJ designation has many parts, including allowing the use of blended sentencing.
During Monday’s hearing, the two attorneys argued ten basic points that would be used to guide the court in making a decision on moving the case.
The issues include the culpability of the juvenile — in which the person’s level of planning and participation in the event would be weighed. The defense has admitted that Stowers committed the alleged crimes alone.
Another issue to be addressed by the court is the previous history of the juvenile covering such areas as whether the person has ever been found to be a juvenile offender, had any previous history of antisocial behavior or patterns of physical violence. In Stowers case, he was reported to have no prior offenses.
The court is also asked to determine whether there are facilities or programs available to the judge of the juvenile court that are likely to rehabilitate the juvenile before his 21st birthday.
In arguing that point, the state said Stowers would turn 21 only 68 days after Monday’s hearing, making it impossible to meet any kind of long-term rehabilitation goal. Carter said the state’s view was Stowers “acted like an adult and needs to be in an adult court.”
Judge Webb ruled that the fact Stowers was only two days away from being an adult over 18 when he allegedly committed the acts for which he is charged had convinced the court he should be prosecuted as an adult. The judge said evidence contained in documents in the case file indicated Stowers acted alone, “making him liable for treatment in an adult Circuit Court.”
In his ruling, Judge Webb said the claim of self-defense would be a matter for Stowers to prove at trial.
Wilkinson wrote in documents filed for the hearing, “it is a cornerstone of American jurisprudence that juvenile offenders are less culpable than adult criminals and should be treated differently to afford them a path toward rehabilitation rather than outright condemnation and disregard.”
An article on EJJ published in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Journal pointed out that EJJ makes it easier to balance the twin needs of holding children accountable for crimes while affording them opportunities for rehabilitation.
THE MURDER
Stowers himself called 911 at about 2 p.m. October 5, 2020, and reported he had shot another male at an address along County Road 111.
When deputies responded, they found Stowers waiting for them in the driveway with his hands up. He was said to have been wearing red and white Nike tennis shoes, a St. Louis Cardinals logo shirt and to have been holding a wallet and cellphone in his hand.
Alman’s body was found lying on a concrete floor between the front entrance to the residence and a door leading to a screened front porch. He was reported to have gunshot wounds to the head just behind and above his left ear. Investigators said there also appeared to be a wound to the victim’s right arm. According to a news release from Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery, the weapon used in the shooting was recovered at the scene.
There were no signs of a struggle inside the house, investigators reported.
In his ruling denying the move to juvenile court, Judge Webb wrote, “the defendant is alleged to have gone to the home of the victim armed with a weapon to confront the victim about some perceived threat that the victim had allegedly posed to Stowers, his friends and his mother.” All of the alleged evidence in the case, “tells the court this was an extremely violent incident brought on by the aggressive, willful actions of the defendant.”
Prosecutors have kept much of the information detailing the event under wraps, including what might have motivated the shooting.
In addition to first-degree murder, Stowers is charged with aggravated residential burglary, criminal use of a prohibited weapon and possession of a handgun by a minor. He has been free on bond.
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