The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected a claim by a prison inmate that prosecutors failed to prove their case when he was charged with aggravated assault on a corrections employee.
Corey Steward was an inmate at the Varner Unit and was charged after he threw a liquid substance on Corrections Capt. Joseph Mahoney on Feb. 12, 2020.
According to the criminal information, Mahoney said the liquid substance was urine.
Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis presided over a jury trial for Steward n June 2, 2021, and Mahoney testified that his original report said he was hit with “an unknown liquid substance” but amended the report to say the substance was urine and said he did not realize what it was until he left the area.
Steward moved to dismiss the charge, contending that the state had not proved the substance was urine but that was denied as Dennis ruled it was up to the jury to decide the question of what the substance was.
Steward testified that the substance was water and admitted during cross-examination that he had received four prior disciplinaries while in prison for throwing bodily fluids.
The appeals court said Mahoney testified that the substance was warm and had a strong smell of urine and the jury was entitled to believe Mahoney’s testimony rather than Stewards.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
