Arkansas Supreme Court says no new trial for woman convicted of killing Officer Kevin Apple
By Adam Roberts
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PEA RIDGE, Ark. (KHBS, KHOG) — The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the woman convicted of killing Pea Ridge police officer Kevin Apple won’t get a new trial.
Shawna Cash ran over and killed Apple in 2021. A jury found her guilty of capital murder and sentenced her to life in prison.
Apple was a 23-year veteran of the force. People who knew him have described his sense of humor and the way he spent his life helping people across the community.
Cash’s attorneys filed an appeal claiming the judge in the case admitted two pieces of evidence he shouldn’t have and improperly allowed a prosecutor’s remarks during closing arguments.
An appeals court ruled against Cash. The Arkansas Supreme Court’s opinion agreed with the appeals court.
40/29 News reached out to one of Cash’s attorneys, who said they have no comment on the ruling.
Jail phone call During the trial, prosecutors played a recording of a phone call between Cash and an unidentified person made while Cash was in jail.
Cash described her conversation with one of her attorneys about how she was facing a charge of murder instead of manslaughter. She told the person she was talking with that she was high when she hit Apple.
The Supreme Court ruled that because Cash’s attorneys had asked for that part of the conversation to be played for the jury, she could not complain of it now.
Closing argument In the prosecutor’s closing arguments of the trial, they said that “fleeing from the police is not only a sport for her; it’s a way of life.”
Cash’s appeal argued that it is against trial rules for prosecutors to use prior bad acts in that manner.
The Supreme Court ruled that the prosecutor’s remark was allowed because they had used evidence during the trial of multiple past times Cash fled from police. They had done so to demonstrate she had intended to flee and had deliberately killed Apple.
Stolen key fob During the trial, the judge allowed prosecutors to admit evidence that Cash was once in the passenger seat of a car when the driver tried to run over a woman.
The Supreme Court agreed with the appeal that the judge shouldn’t have allowed that evidence because it wasn’t independently relevant to the case.
However, it found that the judge’s error was harmless and wouldn’t have changed the jury’s verdict.
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