LITTLE ROCK -- A Garland County man sentenced to 50 years in prison for sexual assault while out on parole for rape had his conviction overturned Wednesday by the Court of Appeals.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled that the sexual assault trial of Neal Allen Hall, 47, should have ended in a mistrial after the prosecutor made "highly misleading" and prejudicial remarks about Hall just before the jury began deliberation.
The appeals court reversed and remanded the case to the trial court.
The prosecutor, Kara Petro, said during a cross-examination of Hall, "Let's talk about when you fled from your jury trial," according to court records. The statement prompted Hall's attorney, Lee Short, to object and ask for a mistrial.
The lower court judge ordered the jury to disregard the statement, but allowed the trial to continue.
Writing for the majority, Appeals Judge Phillip Whiteaker said the statement was inaccurate. While Hall had failed to appear at a previously scheduled jury trial in the case, he did not "flee," Whiteaker said.
Additionally, the prosecutor's statement didn't mention that the failure to appear occurred in the case at hand, "leaving the jury to speculate as to how many jury trials or crimes in which Hall had been involved, insinuating that Hall was a bad person."
In 1990, Hall was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the kidnapping and rape of an 11-year-old. He was out on parole when in 2013 he was accused of groping an 8-year-old girl in a Hot Springs Goodwill store and making a crude statement to her.
The girl testified in court that she had just been admonished by her father for riding a bike in the store's toy section when Hall approached to comfort her, and then started to squeeze her behind.
Another patron in the store testified to seeing Hall touch the girl inappropriately and then seeing Hall flee after the girl screamed.
According to court records, Hall testified that he fled and hid in the woods because he was scared of being beaten up, but later returned and told police he did nothing wrong, That prompted the statement by Petro, the prosecutor, regarding his previous failure to appear.
Garland County Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Lawrence said on Tuesday she will seek to have the attorney general's office appeal the case to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
A spokeswoman for the office said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is "disappointed" in the decision, and will be considering options for further review.
Hall's attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Hall was sentenced as an habitual offender. According to the Arkansas Department of Correction, he is housed at the Garland County Detention Center and is on a waiting list to be sent to prison.
Local on 10/04/2018