2 convicted of murder as teens set to argue for release before Arkansas judge

Cases go to judge after juvenile life terms ruled cruel

FAYETTEVILLE -- Two men who were teenagers when they were sentenced decades ago to life in prison without parole for murder are going before a judge to argue for their release.

James Dean Vancleave, 54, of Springdale, was convicted of capital murder in 1978, and Christopher S. Segerstrom, 45, of Fayetteville, was convicted of capital murder in 1986. Both are set to appear before Washington County Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay. Segerstrom is set for Friday and Vancleave is set for Nov. 16.

"Initially, it's going to be more of a scheduling deal so we can figure out where we are," said Matt Durrett, prosecuting attorney.

Recent state and federal appeals court rulings have said mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles are unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. Teens should at least have the hope of someday being released, according to the rulings, which are retroactive. The ruling means inmates, including those convicted decades ago, must be considered for parole or given a new sentence.

The Arkansas Public Defender Commission represents the majority of the men. Gregg Parrish, executive director, said everyone involved is waiting on a high court ruling to explain how to proceed with the cases.

"We've been able to resolve some, but very few because there are still some legal issues, one of which is going to the Arkansas Supreme Court after the first of the year," Parrish said. "We all want to know the answer to this legal question: If a term of years is offered, what will be the serve time? Meaning, what will be the percentage [of the sentence that must be served], because in 1995 they changed the law and said these type of violent crimes are 70 percent crimes."

The problem is the amended law did not list all the crimes that require a convicted defendant to serve 70 percent of the time handed down, Parrish said. Capital murder was not included because it was never contemplated as an offense for which parole is available, it's either life without parole or the death penalty, he said.

"So, the question becomes what's your serve time? If you get an offer for a term of years, when will you be eligible for parole?" Parrish said. "We're not sure we know the answer, and I don't think the prosecutors are either."

Parrish said prosecutors need to be able to knowledgeably inform the victims' families if they're going to make an offer and defense attorneys need the answer before conveying an offer to their clients.

"Neither side is comfortable not knowing," Parrish said.

Segerstrom was 15 on July 26, 1986, when he took 4-year-old Barbara Thompson into a wooded area behind the Lewis Plaza Apartments in Fayetteville and sexually assaulted her before bashing her head with a rock and suffocating her. Segerstrom had promised to help the child catch butterflies.

Segerstrom is represented by Kent McLemore and Ben Crabtree. Crabtree is the son of Terry Crabtree, the late juvenile and appeals court judge who volunteered to help Denny Hyslip, public defender at the time, represent Segerstrom at his original trial. McLemore worked as a law clerk on Segerstrom's appeal.

A motion to transfer the case to juvenile court was denied. Prosecutors waived the death penalty, leaving life without parole as the default sentence in the capital case.

The defense contested Segerstrom's mental fitness after conflicting opinions from the Arkansas State Hospital, but he was declared mentally competent to stand trial.

He was convicted June 10, 1987.

"Both the rape and the murder were outrageously violent," Supreme Court justices said in their opinion denying Segerstrom's appeal.

Segerstrom is being held at the state Department of Correction's Ouachita River Unit at Malvern in Hot Spring County. McLemore said Segerstrom has had only three visitors in the 30-plus years he's been at the Department of Correction, two from attorneys and one from his mother, who died shortly after Segerstrom was convicted.

Vancleave was 16 when he killed 23-year-old Debra King on Jan. 29, 1978, at a convenience store on Elm Springs Road just outside Springdale.

Vancleave is represented by Bob Estes, who represented Vancleave at his original trial.

Vancleave stabbed King 16 times, slashed her hand 11 times and tried to slash her throat with a small hunting knife to get $30 from her purse. The cash register wasn't touched.

Motions to transfer the case to juvenile court or change the venue because of extensive media coverage were denied. Vancleave was convicted July 24, 1978. Prosecutors sought the death penalty against Vancleave, but the jury returned life without parole.

Vancleave is being held at the state Department of Corrections' Grimes Unit at Newport in Jackson County.

A third man, convicted of gunning down a Springdale store owner in the 1970s, was ordered to be immediately released from jail last Monday after the courts determined he couldn't legally be resentenced.

Dennis Wayne Lewis, 59, of Wichita, Kan., was convicted of capital murder and assault with intent to rob. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Lewis was 17 years and 5 months old when he killed Jared Jerome Cobb at Cobb's Western Store and Pawn Shop during an armed robbery April 8, 1974. Lewis' case is believed by attorneys involved to be the oldest of the bunch, coming before sentencing laws were changed in 1976.

That made Lewis' case unusual among the 56 Arkansas cases in which juvenile life sentences have been vacated, according to his lawyers. They maintained that because laws involving juvenile sentencings were overturned by the U.S. and Arkansas Supreme Courts there were no constitutional sentencing options remaining available to the court, based on state law at the time Lewis committed his crime.

Attorneys for Lewis said the legal theory was based on a technicality and likely does not apply to the remaining cases.

About 2,500 such cases have been identified nationwide, according to The Sentencing Project, a national organization that works for a fair and effective U.S. justice system by promoting reforms in sentencing policy, addressing unjust racial disparities and practices and advocating for alternatives to incarceration, according to its website.

State Desk on 10/31/2016

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