Rocha Wants Death Penalty Tossed From Trial In Springdale Homicide

Rocha
Rocha

FAYETTEVILLE -- The defense attorney for Scott Aaron Rocha, the Springdale man accused of killing his mother, filed 25 motions Wednesday in his capital murder case, several attacking the constitutionality of the Arkansas death penalty.

Springdale police say Rocha, 31, shot his mother to death, tried to clean blood out of the house and then went on a beer run.

Legal Lingo (w/logo)

Capital Offense

Any criminal charge that is punishable by the death penalty is called “capital” because the defendant could lose his head. The word “capital” is derived from the Latin word caput meaning head.

Source: The Free Legal Dictionary

The body of Frances Idell Rocha, 65, was found in the garage at 3547 Loblolly Place early in the morning of March 8, according to the preliminary arrest report. The Rochas both lived at the residence.

Pat Aydelott III is handling the capital murder trial as a death penalty case although Matt Durrett, chief deputy prosecutor, said he hasn't decided whether to seek the death penalty against Rocha.

If convicted of capital murder, Rocha faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

Trial is set for Sept. 22 before Washington County Circuit Judge William Storey.

The motions Wednesday are standard for capital murder cases. Aydelott contends the death penalty is cruel and unusual and violates the U.S. and Arkansas constitutions. He also argues the state law is unconstitutional because it doesn't differentiate between capital and first-degree murder. The Arkansas death penalty has routinely been held constitutional by lower and appeals courts.

Aydelott also wants a mental evaluation for Rocha with the results sealed.

Other motions deal with allowing Rocha to wear civilian clothes without restraints, jury selection and disclosure of evidence and procedural issues.

During police questioning, Rocha admitted shooting his mother and said he intended to kill himself, according to a police report. He told police he tried to dispose of the body but couldn't get it in the car, and he walked to a liquor store for more beer after the shooting, according to the report.

A mop soaked in blood was found in the kitchen, and it appeared Rocha tried to clean up after the shooting, according to police records.

Rocha told police he argued with his mother when she came home and found he had been drinking all day, according to records. He told officers he was waving a pistol and it went off accidentally, according to the records.

Officers went to the house at 12:48 a.m. after James Allen, a friend of Scott Rocha, reported a possible suicide. Allen told police Rocha called him and threatened to kill himself, according to the report. After talking for about an hour, the call ended. Allen told police he called back, and Rocha didn't answer.

Officers entered the house though an unlocked front door after seeing blood on a chair and the floor, according to records. Rocha came out of a back bedroom and said the blood was his mother's.

Frances Rocha's body had a towel wrapped around her head and a large bullet wound in her skull, according to the report.

Rocha told officers he was going to take his mother to the hospital but realized she was dead, according to the report.

Officers found two cans of beer, a half-empty bottle of whiskey, a silver revolver and bullets in a back room of the house.

Rocha later told to a detective he intended to kill his mother then himself, according to the report.

NW News on 07/10/2014

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