Judge says jury can view video of Illinois arrest

Portion allowed in murder trial

A Pulaski County jury will be allowed to view police video of a murder suspect repeatedly refusing to give his name to the Illinois highway patrol when he was arrested, a circuit judge ruled Thursday.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza cleared prosecutors to use Illinois State Police recordings of Jerrold Dewayne Howard’s January arrest at his first-degree murder trial next month.

Deputy prosecutor Robbie Jones told the judge that Howard’s flight from the state troopers, both by car and on foot, plus his reluctance to identify himself to authorities, are evidence of his guilt.

The 31-year-old West Memphis man denies wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Blair Symone Sims. Howard’s attorney, Bobby Digby, said Thursday that the shooting was justified because Howard was protecting himself and a friend from the 25-year-old woman.

Digby challenged the legality of the recordings, saying they either amounted to efforts to inflame jurors against his client or were blatantly violations of Howard’s constitutional rights.

Piazza found no wrongdoing by police, ruling to allow the recordings once prosecutors promised to make minor edits to remove portions they acknowledged would be inadmissible.

One cut will remove Howard calling himself a “criminal” and acknowledging a substantial criminal history, statements that are prohibited as evidence because they violate Howard’s constitutional protections against self-incrimination.

Court records show Howard has prior convictions for aggravated assault, drug possession and first-degree bat-

tery. He is also facing a gun charge in Poinsett County.

Sims was killed three days after Christmas at her home in the Barrington Hills apartments on Reservoir Road in Little Rock.

Police say Howard shot her when an argument between Sims and her girlfriend, Alexia Stephens, over their relationship turned physical. Howard is a close friend of Stephens.

He was arrested about three weeks later near Springfield, Ill., after fleeing state police after a traffic stop.

Sims was killed with a .40-caliber bullet, and the officers found a .40-caliber pistol in his jacket pocket.

Lt. Chris Owens, the Illinois State Police officer who apprehended Howard, testified that he stopped the defendant because he had too many “pine-tree-style” air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror. The car also had a license plate light out and the plate cover distorted the tag, he said.

Owens told the judge that Howard appeared exceptionally nervous — sweating heavily with blood veins bulging — which appeared suspicious, but said he did not know the man was wanted in a killing.

After he was taken into custody, Howard told officers his name was Eric Underwood, but police couldn’t confirm that, the officer testified.

Owens told the judge he asked Howard for his name 17 times before the defendant acknowledged who he was, but by then police had already figured out his identity.