LITTLE ROCK — The state Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a Junction City man’s argument that his capital murder conviction should be overturned because the jury at his trial was confused by vagueness in state laws.
The high court upheld the conviction of Vadrian Meadows, 22, on charges of capital murder, residential burglary and theft in the December 2009 shooting death of Clarence Ritchey in Union County. Meadows is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole.
In oral arguments before the Supreme Court last week, an attorney for Meadows argued that because the state’s capital murder statute and first-degree murder statutes use identical language, jurors in Meadows’ trial did not realize they could convict him of the lesser offense, which could have resulted in a lesser sentence.
In its unanimous opinion Thursday, the Supreme Court said Meadows did not raise the argument during his trial, so he could not raise it for the first time on appeal.
Meadows’ attorney also argued that although Meadows confessed to being involved in the crime, the state did not properly corroborate his confession with other evidence and did not properly corroborate the testimony of an accomplice.
The Supreme Court said corroboration of a confession is not required, except to show that a crime occurred. Meadows’ confession was sufficient to corroborate the accomplice’s testimony, the court said.