x
Breaking News
More () »

Judge denies Crawford County man's motion for new murder trial

Cypert's attorney argued that a jury member admitted to knowing the victim's family and drew a diagram of the home during jury deliberations.

CRAWFORD COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Eathan Cypert, a man convicted of killing his wife, will not get a new trial after his lawyer argued there was juror misconduct during his murder trial.

The judge presiding over the case announced in a hearing on Feb. 20 that the overwhelming evidence convicted him, not alleged juror misconduct.

According to Crawford County Prosecutor Kevin Holmes, there was insufficient evidence proving that any misconduct took place. 

Cypert's attorney filed the motion for a new trial on Jan. 31, six days after his client was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

In the filing, Rose says members of the jury mentioned during deliberations that they knew the victim and her family, including that they'd been in the victim's home.

"In that conversation, this jury member disclosed this information willingly and just said, 'It just didn't seem fair to me this happened,'" Rose said. "I do have a duty to my client, and not just my client, but to the justice system as a whole to disclose that when justice I don't believe was done fairly." 

Rose alleges these jury members also provided details of the layout of the home and even drew a diagram of the home for other jury members during deliberations. 

Holmes responded to Rose's request on Feb. 2, stating that a potential juror who later became a juror did disclose that he went to school with the victim's mother and that what he knew about the case was "what he had seen on the news."

Holmes also mentioned that Rose could have stricken the potential juror during jury selection when he admitted to knowing the victim's family. "The fact that the defense is alleging in its brief that he was unaware that anyone on the jury knew the victim or her family does not suggest any jury misconduct, but rather that the defense counsel was not paying attention," Holmes said.

On Feb. 20, following the judge's decision to deny a new trial for Cypert, Holmes said "we believe in the rights to keep [jury] deliberations private and the judge agreed."

Cypert was on trial for an incident on July 3, 2022, where deputies with the Crawford County Sheriff's Office responded to a domestic disturbance call near Natural Dam between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. 

Once on the scene, deputies found 41-year-old Kristina Cypert had been shot. She was pronounced dead.

Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.

Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:

Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device

To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.

Before You Leave, Check This Out