A Franklin County woman serving a 30-year prison sentence for fatally shooting a state employee at a rest stop lost her appeal Wednesday.
Patricia Hajek-McClure, 60, had originally pleaded innocent by reason of insanity.
In her appeal, she argued that the Crawford County Circuit Court that convicted her allowed a state expert witness -- a doctor -- to testify about whether a personality disorder is a mental disease or defect, and that the lower court limited her expert witness's testimony.
The Arkansas Court of Appeals rejected her arguments, according to an opinion by Judge Waymond Brown.
Hajek-McClure fatally shot Sharren Sue Richards, 54, an Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department employee, at the welcome center rest area off Interstate 40 in Van Buren in May 2012. She was convicted of second-degree murder and is being held at the state prison McPherson Unit in Newport.
During the original trial, Hajek-McClure's expert witness, Dr. Patricia Walz, had said the defendant suffered from "paranoid, schizoid, and schizo-affective personality disorders," according to the opinion. Walz added that she didn't believe Hajek-McClure "could have conformed her conduct to the law at the time" because Hajek-McClure had "a psychotic break."
The state's witness, Dr. Paul DeYoub, had said he didn't think a personality disorder was a mental disease.
"While arguing that Dr. DeYoub should not have been permitted to testify that a personality disorder was not a mental disease, appellant does not address why Dr. Walz also should not have been permitted to essentially testify that a personality disorder was a mental disease," Brown wrote. "Appellant appears to be arguing by implications that Dr. DeYoub's rebuttal testimony should have been limited only to what Dr. Walz testified to and not to what was in her report."
Hajek-McClure also argued that the court granted a state motion to withhold testimony and evidence about the defendant's competency to stand trial and her mental status at that time.
Metro on 12/05/2014