Justin Jamaille Thornton, Appellant v. State of Arkansas, Appellee

Summary

The court held that the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond speculation and conjecture that Thornton acted with the premeditated and deliberated purpose required for capital murder. The circuit court improperly inferred deliberation from the absence of evidence supporting other explanations and thereby shifted the burden of proof to Thornton. The capital-murder conviction was reversed and dismissed, without an opinion on whether the evidence supported a lesser offense. Justice Courtney Hudson Goodson, dissenting, would have affirmed because the evidence, viewed favorably to the State, substantially supported premeditation and deliberation.