Terry Marshall, Jr. v. State of Arkansas

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed Marshall’s first-degree-murder conviction and life sentence. It held that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to instruct the jury on second-degree murder because none of the evidence supplied a rational basis to find that Marshall acted knowingly rather than purposely or intended only to cause serious physical injury. The court also conducted the required review for prejudicial error under the applicable appellate rule and found none.