A hearing to determine whether a former juror should be held in contempt for alleged misconduct in a murder trial, resulting in the verdict being overturned and a mistrial declared, was continued until Aug. 3 after brief discussions in court on Monday.
Elizabeth Hageness, 60, was convicted of second-degree murder on April 14 in the shooting death of her husband, Brian Paul Hageness, 61, on June 19, 2019, and sentenced to 20 years in prison after a four-day trial in Garland County Circuit Court.
An allegation of juror misconduct was made on April 18 by one of the jurors involving another juror, identified as Katrina Robertson, who reportedly did her own online research on the case which she shared with other jurors.
She also reportedly failed to disclose to attorneys she had a personal connection to the trial judge, Ralph Ohm, serving as his investment adviser at a local wealth management company.
Following a more than two-hour hearing on May 11, Judge Marcia Hearnsberger, who heard the case after Ohm recused, issued a ruling declaring a mistrial and ordering a new trial for Hageness. She also served a court order against Robertson to appear Monday to show cause why she shouldn't be held in contempt of court for her alleged actions.
The hearing was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Monday but was delayed for over an hour waiting on the arrival of Hageness' attorney, Jonathan Huber, of Arkadelphia, who had filed the motion for a new trial based on the alleged juror misconduct that resulted in the mistrial.
As the hearing began, Garland County Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Lawrence told Hearnsberger she wanted her to take judicial notice of the transcript from the original murder trial and the transcript from the May 11 hearing which she wanted to enter as evidence.
Robertson's attorney, Tyler Tapp, objected to the admission of the transcript from the May 11 hearing, arguing that Robertson would not be able to confront the witnesses who testified at the hearing since they weren't there at the hearing Monday. He noted it would be in violation of Robertson's constitutional rights just to rely on the written testimonies from the transcript as evidence.
After verifying with Lawrence that none of the witnesses were there, Hearnsberger said the case would have to be continued until the witnesses could be subpoenaed and be present, so the hearing was reset for Aug. 3 at 1:30 p.m.
Over two dozen supporters of Robertson were in the courtroom for Monday's hearing including her husband, Shane Robertson, who told The Sentinel-Record, "I'm really disappointed and upset at the Garland County judicial system and their handling of this case."
He said Huber had "made a big deal" about Katrina Robertson's relationship with Ohm, but during voir dire, or the preliminary questioning of the jurors by the attorneys, he said Huber "never asked if anybody was related to Ohm."
Shane Robertson said his wife is "a woman of character, integrity and respect" and had actually argued in the jury room for the charge against Hageness to be reduced from first-degree murder to second-degree murder which the other jurors ultimately agreed to do.
"She took her civic duty very seriously and just wanted to do what was right," he said, noting he was surprised that Huber had filed the motion for a mistrial since his wife was basically arguing for Huber's client.