Earlier arrest could postpone Doll trial

BENTONVILLE — A 2005 arrest may delay the planned start Friday of a trial for a man charged with trying to kill his ex-wife.

Michael Doll, 52, of Jasper, Mo., is charged with attempted capital murder, aggravated residential burglary and battery. Doll’s former wife told a 911 dispatcher on June 7, 2016, that he tried to break into her Bella Vista home and shot her. A bullet grazed her side, according to court documents.

Doll has claimed at previous hearings that he was acting in self-defense.

Doll’s attorney, Kevin Lammers, told a judge during a hearing Tuesday that he received a 2005 arrest report from Florida earlier in the day. Doll was arrested in connection with domestic abuse, Lammers said.

He complained the defense should have received the documents months earlier, saying the new information has him re-examining trial strategy.

Doll’s defense centered on a mental diseases or defect. The defense planned to present evidence Doll was in a traffic accident and suffered traumatic brain injury, which changed his personality. The problem for the defense is the accident happened years after

Doll’s 2005 arrest.

“It’s really a bombshell for me,” Lammers said.

The defense planned to call a witness to testify that prior to Doll’s accident he would not have acted in the manner that led to his 2016 arrest in Bella Vista.

Stuart Cearley, chief deputy prosecutor, said his office received the report Tuesday and provided it to Doll’s attorneys. Cearley said he planned to use the report as rebuttal evidence for witnesses testifying about Doll’s good character. Cearley said he also questioned the defense’s expert about Doll’s 2005 arrest.

Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green questioned why it took so long to get the information since Doll was arrested in 2016. Green scheduled another hearing for Thursday and will decide then whether to postpone the trial.

Doll