Arkansas Supreme Court says man convicted of triple homicide should be taken off death row

Court tosses death sentence for man who killed 3

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Supreme Court has ordered a new sentencing for a death row inmate convicted of killing his girlfriend and her two young children around the holidays in 2006.

Justices on Thursday upheld James Aaron Miller’s murder conviction but ordered that he be resentenced.

Miller was convicted of killing Bridgette Barr, 5-year-old Sydney Barr and 2-year-old Garrett Barr while the children visited their mother in Fort Smith for Christmas. The children lived with their father in Oklahoma.

Justices ruled that two witnesses should not have been allowed to recommend that the jury impose the death penalty during the sentencing phase.

Justices rejected Miller’s argument that the bodies were discovered during a warrantless search of his apartment.