Jerry Lard
In this prison photo taken July 30, 2012, and provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction, shows death row inmate Jerry Lard. A lawyer representing Lard told the Arkansas Supreme Court Nov. 14,that the judge overseeing Lard’s trial let his sympathy for the victim's family get in the way of his duty on the bench.
Jerry Lard was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death last year in northeast Arkansas after he fatally shot Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt in 2011.
His attorney wants a new trial for Lard, while the state wants the court to uphold Lard's conviction and sentence.
No one disputes that Lard, 39, shot Schmidt during a traffic stop in April 2011. But Lard's lawyers argued at trial that he suffers from a mental disease or defect.
In addition to the capital murder conviction for Schmidt's death, Lard was also convicted of attempted capital murder for shooting at Schmidt's partner, Sgt. Corey Overstreet.
Overstreet testified at trial that he showed up as backup after Schmidt pulled over a car in which Lard was a passenger. At one point, Schmidt asked Lard his name and birthday and radioed the information back. Schmidt walked to Lard's side of the car.
"When he opened the door, a hand reached out and started shooting Jonathan," Overstreet testified at trial.
Overstreet went to reach for his gun, but he said Lard pointed his weapon at him, so he scrambled between the vehicles.
In video shot from a police car, Schmidt can be heard pleading with Lard off-camera: "Please don't shoot me. Please don't shoot me again."
