CLARK
By William Moore
Daily Journal
FULTON – The jury is set for Joshua Clark’s second capital murder trial in Itawamba County Circuit Court.
State prosecutors and defense attorneys spent one-and-a-half days to pick 12 jurors and four alternates for the trial. The jury, which will be sequestered during the trial that could last more than a week, listened to opening arguments Tuesday afternoon. The 10-man, six-woman panel was then sent home to get additional clothes before reporting to a local hotel.
Clark, 30, is accused of killing his 4-month-old daughter, Kylie, in January 2008. During a 2010 capital murder trial, Clark accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to depraved heart murder and was sentenced to life in prison. On direct appeal, that plea was vacated by Senior Circuit Court Judge Thomas Gardner on the grounds of ineffective counsel. Gardner is presiding over the second trial as well.
During his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney David Daniels said Clark was left alone for several hours with four small children on Jan. 5, 2008, including Kylie and her twin brother. When the mother and two friends returned, Kylie was limp and lifeless in a recliner.
“The defendant was playing a video game sitting right next to her,” Daniels said to the jury. “She cried like a baby all the time y’all were gone. She’s fine.”
When the mother, Bethany Clark, placed the child on the floor and attempted to do CPR, “he took the baby away from her and took her to a back room,” Daniels continued.
The child was initially taken to Gilmore Hospital in Amory before being transferred to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis. Doctors there found injuries to the brain, eyes, as well as a fractured collar bone and rib fractures that had already started to heal.
“These are classic Shaken Baby Syndrome injuries,” Daniels said. “The babies were fine when they were left with him.”
Defense attorney Jim Waide painted a much different picture of Joshua Clark – a hard working and caring father who did not drink or do drugs.
“The twins were very premature,” Waide said. “Kylie cried all the time because her mother was on drugs and the babies were in withdrawal.
“Josh worked out of state in Alabama to provide for the family and was only home on the weekends. (Bethany) would try to get off drugs when he was there and was mean and nasty going through withdrawal.
I think in the end you will see that the traumatic injuries were inflicted by Bethany Clark.”
After the jury had left the courtroom, Gardner gave tentative approval for the state to introduce evidence surrounding a former girlfriend of Joshua Clark. According to Daniels, the woman had a 9-month-old at the time who suffered injuries similar to Kylie when left in Clark’s care.
While Daniels said the testimony would show intent and motive, Waide said it could confuse the jury into thinking Clark was accused of another crime.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. today and is expected to continue the rest of this week and possibly into next week.
william.moore@journalinc.com