Alan Ray Edwards, Appellant v. State of Arkansas, Appellee

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed Edwards’s convictions and sentence, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by limiting the psychiatric expert’s testimony. The expert did not testify that Edwards lacked the capacity to form the required intent, and his opinions did not support the affirmative insanity defense; moreover, ample evidence showed purposeful conduct. The court also declined to review Edwards’s due-process argument because it was not preserved below. Justice Wynne, dissenting, would have reversed and remanded because the excluded testimony about Edwards’s capacity to form the culpable mental state was relevant, admissible, and not harmless.