Billy Dale Green, Appellant v. State of Arkansas, Appellee

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed Billy Dale Green’s convictions for four counts of capital murder and one count of kidnapping, holding that substantial evidence supported his liability as a principal or accomplice and rejecting his evidentiary, mistrial, jury-instruction, juror-selection, record-settlement, and amended-judgment claims. The court concluded that Chad Green’s statements were admitted for the limited purpose of explaining the police investigation, that curative instructions adequately addressed improper testimony, and that the evidence supported accomplice-liability instructions. Chief Justice Hannah, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have found insufficient evidence connecting Green to the murders of Carl, Lisa, and Gregory Elliott while agreeing that the remaining convictions and rulings should stand.