2:44 p.m. update The defense rested just before 3 p.m. Wednesday.
9:28 a.m. update The prosecution has rested in the murder trial of former Razorback player Josh Melton.
Original story
FAYETTEVILLE -- Mike Gover had an enlarged heart that was a "ticking time bomb" according to a former state assistant medical examiner, but he also said an altercation and lots of alcohol were factors pushing Gover over the edge the morning he died.
Former Razorback football player Josh Melton, 34, is charged with second-degree murder in the August 2013 death of his friend. Gover was 30 years old and his death was ruled a homicide.
Legal Lingo
Autopsy
The examination of a dead body by a medical examiner to determine disease, injury, and cause of death, especially in a criminal investigation. A postmortem examination is requested by law enforcement or prosecutors when a person is suspected to have died by violent or unnatural means.
Source: Staff Report
Jurors are being asked to determine if Melton's actions during an altercation between the two men caused Gover's death and if that constituted murder. Second-degree murder is defined in Arkansas as intentionally trying to physically hurt someone and causing their death.
Dr. Daniel Dye, who did an autopsy on Gover at the Arkansas State Crime Lab, said Gover's physical injuries from being hit in the face several times weren't sufficient to cause his death, in and of themselves. Gover's enlarged heart and a blood alcohol level of 0.20 at the time of his death were the other factors in play.
"You have to have all three in this case to cause Mr. Gover's death," Dye said. "These injuries cause stress. They exacerbated the underlying heart disease and he died."
Gover's heart condition was sufficient to have caused his death at some point and the heart condition plus alcohol "maybe" could have killed him.
Dye said he ruled the death a homicide because it was caused at least in part by another person. He said Gover was alive for some period of time after the fight at Melton's duplex.
Melton told Fayetteville police he and Gover, of West Fork, had gone to a couple of bars after a softball game and drank heavily. They ended up at Melton's home, 6316 W. Copper Ridge Lane, just south of Wedington Avenue in the early hours of Aug. 28, 2013.
Melton told police he punched his friend several times in the face after Gover threw up in the living room, made lewd comments and grabbed Melton's genitalia.
A blood-covered Melton was taken to the police station where he was questioned off and on for about eight hours. Melton said the two men were very drunk on beer when they arrived at his home and, after a final shot of rum, he blacked out and didn't remember anything else until the next day when he found Gover dead on his living room floor. Jurors heard about four hours of the interview Tuesday.
"I'm telling you the truth, 1,000 percent," Melton said at one point. "We fought. I woke up and my friend was dead on my living room floor. I don't remember hitting each other."
The story slowly changed over the course of the interview with Melton eventually telling police he hit Gover to make him stop.
"I just thought I'd beat the shit out of him," Melton said. "I just thought we'd gotten into a fight and it wasn't that bad."
Melton, a Batesville native, played for the Razorbacks from 1999 to 2002.
If convicted, Melton faces six to 30 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction and fines of up to $15,000. The trial is scheduled to last all week.
Circuit Judge William Storey declared a mistrial midway through Melton's first trial after two jurors were dismissed.
NW News on 12/03/2014