Convicted murderer Brandon Lacy made his first court appearance in a Benton County courtroom since the Arkansas Supreme Court’s ruling granting him a hearing in his bid to overturn his conviction.
Lacy appeared Wednesday morning in Circuit Judge Robin Green’s courtroom.
A jury recommended in May 2009 that Lacy should be put to death for killing Randall Walker. Circuit Judge Robin Green followed the recommendation and imposed the death sentence.
Lacy’s case is being appealed. The state Supreme Court ordered in February that the local court hold a evidentiary hearing in Lacy’s petition claiming that he had ineffective assistance of counsel during his trial.
The issue involves around whether Lacy’s attorney failed to investigate and inform the jury about Lacy’s brain damage.
Benton County Prosecutor Van Stone said he may want Lacy to be examined by an expert obtained by the prosecutors. Stone also said he needs time to talk with Lacy’s former attorneys and see whether prosecutors will be able to obtain Lacy’s case file.
The judge scheduled a hearing for 1 p.m. April 3 and Stone has to decide whether to seek an evaluation for Lacy. She will also set a date for the evidentiary hearing at the April hearing.
A jury found Lacy guilty of capital murder and aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to death for the murder conviction and life for aggravated robbery.
Walker’s burned body was found Aug. 30, 2007, in the bedroom of his Beaver Hollow Road in prison for
home. Jurors heard Lacy’s recorded confessions in which he admitted hitting the 47-year-old Walker twice in the head with a fireplace poker. Lacy also admitted stabbing Walker with the poker and said accomplice Broderick Laswell struck Walker with a weight bar. Lacy also said he cut Walker’s throat.
Laswell was tried and convicted of capital murder and aggravated robbery, but he was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of a death sentence.