Paris man fit to stand trial in death of man, his 2 sons

A Paris man charged in a traffic accident that killed three people last summer was in a coma for a month after the accident and still suffers from depression, anxiety and nightmares but has no mental disease or defect and can stand trial, according to a mental evaluation filed earlier this month in Logan County Circuit Court.

Eric Thompson, 42, told forensic psychologist Paul Deyoub in a Feb. 18 forensic evaluation interview that he had memory loss and trouble comprehending after he awoke a month after the Aug. 22 accident north of Paris in which James Lee, 32, of Paris and his two young sons werekilled. Police say Thompson was drunk and speeding when the head-on collision occurred.

Thompson, who is being held in the Logan County jail, is scheduled to go on trial May 23 in Paris on three counts of felony negligent homicide and one count of driving without a license. An element of the negligent homicide charges was that he was reportedly driving drunk.

Deyoub’s report stated Thompson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent, more than twice the legal limit in Arkansas.

Deyoub submitted his report to attorneys in the case and Circuit Judge Jerry Don Ramey on March 6. In thereport, he concluded that Thompson does not suffer from a mental disease or defect and has the mental capacity to understand the legal proceedings against him and to assist in his defense.

“He also indicated his memory has improved, his speech is normal, [and] that he is not suffering the same symptoms that he had at the time of the incident,” Deyoub said in his report.

Thompson told Deyoub, according to the evaluation report, that after he was discharged from the UAMS Medical Center last September, it took him a month before he could begin walking. After about two weeks in jail, he began speaking better butcontinued to be depressed and anxious.

At the time of the examination, Deyoub wrote, Thompson was having pain in his back, neck and right leg and was taking pain medication.

He was having trouble sleeping and had nightmares.

The accident occurred on Aug. 22 on Arkansas 309 north of Paris. According to the Arkansas State Police, Thompson was driving north in a 1996 Dodge Ram pickup. Lee and his 12-yearold son Caleb Campbell and8-year-old son James Lee Jr., were heading south in a 2006 Chevrolet two-door.

Thompson had just driven out of a curve in the highway and began to pass another northbound vehicle., the accident report stated. He remained in the southbound lane driving at a high rate of speed, according to witnesses, when he collided with the Chevrolet, which caught fire and killed Lee. The two boys were killed when they were ejected from the car, according to the accident report.

When medical personnel asked him at the scene if he had been drinking, the state police report stated, Thompson replied, “I had some.”