Use of photos in trial argued

JONESBORO — A Craighead County circuit judge will hold a hearing in Jonesboro to determine if 20 photographs of a 90-year-old woman’s fatal injuries will be allowed in the capital murder trial of the man accused of killing her.

Richard Tarver, 31, of Bay is charged with the July 3, 2015, slaying of Lavinda Counce of Bay. Tarver is also charged with kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated

residential burglary, abuse of a corpse, theft of property and possession of a defaced firearm.

He remains in the Craighead County jail in Jonesboro in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Prosecuting attorney Scott Ellington of Jonesboro is seeking the death penalty against Tarver.

Family members reported Counce missing July 3, 2015. Her car was found a day later in a parking lot of NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital on U.S. 49 in Jonesboro, about 10 miles from Counce’s home. A surveillance camera video showed a man parking Counce’s car in the lot at 12:56 p.m. July 4, 2015, and walking toward the highway.

Searchers found Counce’s body in a cornfield between Bay and Jonesboro on July 12, 2015. She had been shot in the head with a large-caliber weapon, Craighead County Sheriff Marty Boyd said.

Police arrested Tarver at his Bay home July 17, 2015. He lived in a home behind Counce’s residence.

Tarver’s attorney, Randall

Miller of Jonesboro, filed several pretrial motions, including one that sought suppression of autopsy photographs of Counce’s wounds.

In a hearing Thursday, Miller contended that the photographs were graphic and prejudicial against his client.

Craighead County Circuit Judge Cindy Thyer set an Aug. 31 hearing to determine the admissibility of the photographs for Tarver’s trial. Ellington said a state Crime Laboratory medical examiner will testify on whether about 20 photographs are necessary for the prosecution.

Miller refused to comment about the case Friday.

Thyer also ruled Thursday that confessions Tarver gave to investigators are admissible in his trial. Miller argued that Tarver talked with police before they read his Miranda rights to him and that his confession should not be allowed in court.

However, Ellington said prosecutors will show a video during Tarver’s trial that includes investigators reading Tarver his rights before he confessed.

Tarver’s trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 26 and could last for two or three weeks, the prosecutor said.