The Mississippi Supreme Court ordered a Vernon, Alabama man convicted of manslaughter in Lowndes County be awarded a new trial last week.
On October 8, the court ruled that James Newell, convicted of manslaughter for the 2008 shooting of Adrian Boyette at the Slab House bar, be given a new trial.
It will be Newell’s third trial. Lowndes County Circuit Court found him guilty in 2008. In 2010, the Supreme Court overturned the original conviction. A second Lowndes County trial overseen by Judge Lee Coleman found Newell guilty again in 2012. Now, the state’s highest court has again ordered a fresh trail.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court questioned the state’s use of an expert witness, Dr. Stephen Hayne, to testify that Boyette was in a “guarded position” at the time of the shooting.
Newell contends he shot Boyette in self-defense after the two argued in the Slab House parking lot.
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