LITTLE ROCK—A new trial was ordered Wednesday for a homeless man convicted of murder in the 2006 stabbing death of another transient at a West Memphis truck stop.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals reversed the second-degree murder conviction of James David King in the Dec. 5, 2006, slaying of Ed Roe at a Petro Truck Stop. Judges ruled that a Crittenden County judge didn’t properly instruct jurors on whether the use of deadly force was justified by King.

King and William Smith, another homeless man whom he lived with under a bridge in West Memphis, encountered Roe and accepted his offer to stay at a motel with him. King agreed to help Roe with work he had found polishing a truck at the Petro stop, the ruling said.

King told police that Roe “went ballistic” when King performed some extra polishing work on the truck and then punched King twice in the face. King pulled out a knife and stabbed Roe seven times when Roe reached toward his own pants pocket, according to the ruling.

King told police he had “cut” Roe when police stopped him later in the day and noticed blood on his boots.

In his appeal, King argued that the lower court should have instructed jurors that deadly force was necessary if King believed that Roe was committing or about to commit a felony involving force or violence. Jurors, however, were instructed that deadly force was necessary if King believed Roe was using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force.

King argued that he believed Roe was about to commit second-degree battery, a felony. King was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

“Here, King testified that he was actually punched twice in the face and that he believed that he was about to be attacked with a knife. This testimony demonstrates ’some evidence’ supporting the second-degree battery alternative of the justification instruction,” Judge Larry D. Vaught wrote in the appeals court’s ruling.