Tyler Edward Tait v. State of Arkansas

Summary

The court affirmed Tait’s second-degree-murder conviction, holding that substantial evidence supported the jury’s finding that he caused Kinsey’s death by strangulation. It also held that the circuit court properly instructed the jury on second-degree murder because the evidence supplied a rational basis for acquitting Tait of first-degree murder and convicting him of the lesser offense, and that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying a new trial based on alleged juror misconduct. The court vacated the court of appeals’ opinion.