BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Editor's Note: The video above is from when Mauricio Torres' murder trial was canceled earlier this year due to COVID-19.
The Arkansas Supreme Court has agreed to address a petition involving the Mauricio Torres mistrial case.
The court will decide if Torres' third murder trial will go directly to the sentencing phase, or will restart.
The Bella Vista man is accused of maliciously killing his 6-year-old son in 2015.
Torres was arrested in April 2015 in the death of Maurice "Isaiah" Torres, who died earlier that year. Investigators say Torres used a stick to sexually assault his son while the family was camping in Missouri. The boy died at an Arkansas hospital a day after the assault.
His wife, Cathy, is serving life in prison for Isaiah's death after taking a plea deal.
In 2016, he was tried and sentenced to death for the murder of his son, Isaiah, but the state Supreme Court overturned the conviction and order Torres to have a new trial. The state Supreme Court claimed prosecutors didn't demonstrate its case for the death penalty.
Torres was convicted of the same charges again in March 2020. However, a mistrial was declared after a courtroom scuffle between Torres and his stepson.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has filed a petition with the state Supreme Court to uphold Mauricio Torres' guilty verdicts. If the petition is granted, it would overrule the Benton County judge's decision, and a jury would only have to decide Torres' punishment.