TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has reversed the murder convictions of a Salina man accused of killing of one man during a burglary and another man after an argument.
The Salina Journal reported that the justices ruled this past week that four of Willie Jerome Smith-Parker’s 10 allegations of error had merit.
Smith-Parker was convicted in October 2010 in Salina of first-degree murder in the death of 24-year-old Alfred Mack Jr. and second-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Justin Letourneau.
One issue Smith-Parker raised was with how a juror was replaced with an alternative after deliberations commenced. The court ruled that the jurors should have been instructed to restart their deliberations after the replacement was made.