TEXARKANA, Arkansas - A man who caused a crash in Miller County that ended the life of a 24-year-old husband and father was recently denied a new trial by an Arkansas appellate court.
Forrest Rector Stewart Jr., 66, is serving a maximum 20-year term in the Arkansas Department of Corrections in the Nov. 2, 2017, death of James Crowe. A jury of Miller County citizens found him guilty in July 2019 of felony negligent homicide.
James Crowe was killed about 6:45 a.m. Nov. 2, 2017, as he headed from his home in Hope, Ark., to his job in Texarkana. Stewart, driving a truck, crossed 7 feet into the opposite lane of traffic and hit Crowe's Hyundai head-on. Crowe was wearing his seatbelt.
Stewart, who suffered an injury to his foot, had to be extricated from his truck using hydraulic equipment. First responders and members of law enforcement testified that Stewart's demeanor after the accident was unusual.
Stewart apparently cursed and screamed at those trying to help free him from his wrecked truck and refused to answer questions from those attempting to provide him medical treatment, including refusing to give a nurse his name at a Texarkana hospital.
Witnesses described Stewart's behavior as "combative," "uncooperative" and "aggressive," under questioning by Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Connie Mitchell and David Cotten. Stewart's blood showed a high level of methamphetamine, indicating he was intoxicated, according to expert testimony at the trial.
On appeal, Stewart argued that the trial judge should not have let a psychologist give testimony about Stewart's past drug use, that the judge should have granted the defense's request for a mistrial based on that testimony and that the evidence gleaned from the sample of Stewart's blood showing he used meth was illegally obtained.
All three arguments were rejected in an opinion handed down last week by the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
"We are so pleased the Court of Appeals affirmed Mr. Stewart's conviction. His conviction brought the family closure in the tragic loss of their husband, son, father and brother. I am thankful they can rest easy knowing Mr. Stewart's conviction stands," Mitchell said.
At Stewart's trial, testimony from Crowe's wife brought many in the courtroom and on the jury to tears. The couple married young and planned for a lifetime together.
"I'll be an old woman in love with a man who never made it past 24," Kristen Crowe said, turning her grief-stricken gaze toward Stewart at the end of the trial. "He was so good and now he's gone because of what you did."
Stewart is serving his sentence at an ADC unit in Calico Rock, Ark. According to ADC's website, Stewart will be eligible for parole Dec. 21, 2022. Eligibility for parole is not a guarantee parole will be granted.