Prosecutors aiming for third trial for ex-Little Rock officer in death of 15-year-old boy

LITTLE ROCK—A former Little Rock police officer accused of recklessly killing a 15-year-old boy he caught breaking into cars will be tried a third time, prosecutors said Friday.

A jury deadlocked on Thursday, the second time this year jurors couldn’t agree whether Josh Hastings acted properly when he fired three shots into a car at a Little Rock apartment complex.

Bobby Moore III was killed Aug. 12, 2012, when Hastings responded to a call that someone was breaking into cars at the apartments in west Little Rock.

Prosecutors charged Hastings with a felony after investigators said evidence from the scene didn’t match Hastings’ account of events.

Police Chief Stuart Thomas fired Hastings after concluding the officer used deadly force without justification.

Hastings claimed the car Moore was driving was heading toward him, prompting him to fire through its windshield, but Thomas said evidence shows the car was either moving in reverse or stopped several feet away from Hastings when he fired.

Two other youths were in the car with Moore and they testified at both trials. Hastings’ attorney, Bill James said Friday that inconsistencies in the boys’ stories should help win Hastings an acquittal.

The judge set the next trial start May 5.

Prosecutor Larry Jegley said Friday the case has weighed on his office.

“That’s all we can do. We’ve taken third shots (at trial) before,” Jegley said. “We’re going to decompress a little, hitch back up and take a look next week.”

James said he didn’t foresee a change in strategy for the next retrial.

“We’re going to try to sharpen our arguments up a little bit,” James said. “I think we brought to light the veracity of those two guys (the juveniles who were in the car).”

In the first trial, both sides used expert witnesses and Hastings testified in his own defense.

In the second trial, the sides couldn’t schedule their experts and James rested without calling any witnesses.

When Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen declared a mistrial on Thursday, the jurors didn’t indicate which way they were leaning, other than to say they were deadlocked.

A pretrial hearing is set for April 7.