PINE BLUFF -- Mary Black, the Star City woman charged with capital murder in connection with the June 16, 2019, beating death of her 11-year-old son, Joseph Carsello, received a six-month extension before she will have to answer to the charge as she awaits a mental fitness evaluation.
Because of coronavirus precautions, Black's omnibus hearing was held via a Zoom virtual meeting connection before 11th Judicial District Division 1 Circuit Court Judge Alex Guynn in Pine Bluff on Monday.
Black, now 31, appeared over the video connection from the Arkansas County jail in DeWitt where she has been held since she was arrested along with her husband, David Black, 38, who pleaded guilty in February to a charge of capital murder. He is serving a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole in the East Arkansas Maximum Security Unit of the Arkansas Department of Corrections in Marianna.
In Lincoln County, where the crime she is accused of occurred, the jail lacks facilities for female inmates.
If Black were convicted and a death sentence were carried out, she would be only the second woman to be put to death in Arkansas in modern times, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Corrections has said.
Black's attorney, William O. "Bill" James, with the James Law Firm in Little Rock, requested the extension citing a motion he had filed to suspend the legal proceedings until a mental evaluation can be performed on Black.
James filed the motion of a mental evaluation, what is known as an "Act 3 hearing," in March, placing the prosecution on notice that mental disease or defect could possibly be used as a defense in the case.
"Ms. Black, has someone come to talk to you, to evaluate you yet?" Guynn asked, to which Black replied that no one had.
Looking through a stack of legal papers, James asked Guynn if the court had a signed copy of the order for the evaluation.
"I don't have the entire file, I just have the affidavit and the information," Guynn said.
After a brief search, Jerrie Dean, Guynn's trial court administrator said she could not find the order.
"I see where a motion was filed on March 30 but there has not been an order," Dean said.
James said he would expedite a draft of the order for Guynn's signature that day.
Guynn ordered a status hearing to be scheduled for Dec. 7 at 1:30 p.m. to give time for the evaluation to be performed and the report to be submitted.
"If the evaluation comes back before then we can set new dates at that time," Guynn said.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Lincoln County District Court in July, police were called to the Black's Star City residence at 212 Spring St. on Sunday, June 16, just before 4:30 p.m. When they arrived, the affidavit said, they found David Black hovering over his stepson, Joseph, who was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.
According to the affidavit, Mary Black told police that she and David Black had whipped Joseph with belts on Saturday evening, June 15, as punishment for trying to run away. As the whipping was happening, Joseph began talking back to his mother, the affidavit said, and the Blacks responded by striking him in the face with their hands.
The boy's mother told police that Joseph pulled away from them and kicked his stepfather in the mouth, causing David Black's lip to bleed, before falling down some stairs and striking his head on a toolbox.
The next day, according to Mary Black, Joseph returned from swimming at a neighbor's house, then picked up a hammer and swung it at David Black. Mary Black said she and her husband then "went a little crazy on him to teach him not to swing a hammer."
The Blacks began whipping Joseph with their hands, belts and a paddle and told him to go stand in the corner, according to the affidavit. Mary Black told police that they noticed Joseph lying on the floor a short time later, and the couple began pouring water on him to try to wake him up.
David Black then noticed that Joseph wasn't breathing, the affidavit said.
An autopsy revealed that Joseph died from multiple blunt force injuries. The boy had multiple scalp contusions; multiple impact sites on his head and torso; bruising of his arms, legs, thighs, and buttocks; abdominal hemorrhaging; hemorrhaging of the pancreas; and a lacerated liver.
If convicted of capital murder, a class Y felony, Black could be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole or she could receive the death penalty. On Aug. 27, the prosecuting attorney's office, headed by Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter, filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty, citing the victim's age and the "especially cruel or depraved manner" in which the crime was committed.
NW News on 06/03/2020