A local man was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison Tuesday after a one-day trial in Garland County Circuit Court for a 2016 shooting death that reportedly stemmed from a dispute over $150.
Johnny Carl Moody, 49, who has remained in custody in lieu of $250,000 bond since his arrest Oct. 7, 2016, was originally charged with first-degree murder, punishable by up to life in prison, for the shooting death of Rodney Brown, 31, of Hot Springs, earlier that day in the 600 block of Second Street.
The eight-woman, four-man jury deliberated for less than 20 minutes before finding Moody guilty of the lesser offense of second-degree murder, punishable by up to 30 years. The jury deliberated for about 10 minutes before recommending the sentence of 15 years.
Garland County Public Defender Tim Beckham, who represented Moody, said Wednesday the state's theory was the shooting stemmed from a drug transaction. The defense theory was Moody had owed Brown $150 from two years ago and had paid him back, but Brown "was still shaking (Moody) down for more money periodically," he said.
Beckham said they had argued it was self-defense since Moody was older and disabled and "couldn't fight Brown," noting, "He would give (Brown) money every few weeks and he would come back again."
He said the two men had been together at a house earlier the same night as the shooting where Brown had repeatedly threatened Moody and even assaulted him at one point. When Moody went to meet him later, "he thought (Brown) was reaching for a weapon" so he shot him.
Beckham said Moody was "a known crack cocaine user" and Brown was "a known drug dealer" so "presumably the money was owed for drugs."
The jury "clearly didn't completely believe" the self-defense claim, Beckham said, but they found him guilty of the lesser offense and recommended a sentence that was half the maximum and "were very quick on both deliberations."
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham, who represented the state along with Deputy Prosecutor Shana Alexander, said he thought the jury "probably got it right" with the second-degree murder conviction, noting, "It's always hard to prove intent to kill, but (Moody) definitely at least had intent to cause serious physical injury" which met the criteria for second-degree murder.
Beckham said Moody will be eligible for parole in three years and nine months and will be given credit for time served, 256 days as of Wednesday.
"He was relieved," Beckham said of Moody's reaction to the verdict, noting he was still considering an appeal. He said Moody could not be retried for first-degree murder since the jury found him not guilty of that charge, but he would risk getting a longer sentence, up to the full 30 years, if he were retried on the second-degree murder charge.
"I'm not sure there are any points to appeal," he said. "It was a pretty clean trial."
According to the affidavit, on Oct. 7, at around 12:07 a.m., Hot Springs police officers responded to a shooting in the 600 block of Second Street and located Brown, who had sustained two gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries.
A witness told police an unknown person, later identified as Moody, had contacted Brown on his cellphone before the shooting and they had agreed to meet at the location on Second Street. A short time later, a gray SUV pulled up, occupied by Moody, and as Brown approached the vehicle, Moody shot him twice and then drove away.
It was determined that Brown was shot by a .22-caliber firearm, and one .22-caliber casing was recovered from the scene. Detectives called a phone number in Brown's phone and spoke to Moody. They later made contact with Moody in person and he confirmed he had contacted Brown and drove to the agreed location to meet him, but noticed the police were already there.
Video surveillance and dash cameras from responding officers contradicted Moody's statement, the affidavit states. Moody's vehicle was seized and searched and officers located a spent .22-caliber casing similar to the one located at the scene.
Moody's wife told police Moody had arrived home at 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 6 with money to pay Brown. Moody reportedly told his wife he was going to get Brown and called her 40 minutes later and told her he believed he had killed Brown.
After his arrest, Moody admitted he shot Brown as he was approaching his vehicle.
Local on 06/22/2017