By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — A murder suspect’s statement to a reporter that he shot another man outside a Fort Smith Wal-Mart store because he “wanted to give him an early Christmas present” was properly admitted as evidence at the man’s trial, the state Court of Appeals ruled today.

The court upheld the conviction of Knight Michael Vorachith in the July 24, 2007, shooting death of Quy Nguyen. Both men were 19 at the time of the shooting.

Vorachith testified at his May 2008 trial that he confronted Nguyen outside a Wal-Mart Supercenter after hearing that Nguyen and others had frightened a friend of Vorachith’s. He said he took a gun because he expected to be outnumbered, but he only intended to use the weapon for intimidation. He fired the gun when Nguyen made a sudden move that frightened him, he said.

Nguyen died from gunshot wounds to the chest, the top of the head and the back of the head.

Evidence admitted at the trial included a statement Vorachith made to the news media. As Fort Smith police were escorting Vorachith to the Sebastian County Detention Center after interviewing him at the police station, someone with the news media asked, “Why did you do it?” Vorachith answered, “I wanted to give him an early Christmas present.”

Vorachith was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced, with an enhancement for using a firearm in the commission of a felony, to 42 years in prison.

On appeal, Vorachith argued that his statement should not have been admitted at his trial because it was prejudicial and not reliable. Also, he said police should have driven him to the jail instead of walking him across a parking lot where he was exposed to the news media.

In its opinion today, the Court of Appeals said the statement was evidence of Vorachith’s extreme indifference to the value of human life and his lack of remorse. The trial judge did not err in ruling that the value of the statement as evidence outweighed the risk of unfair prejudice, the court said.

The court also said that, according to the testimony of police, the practice of walking prisoners from the police station to the jail is standard operating procedure because it is faster than driving a prisoner to the jail and waiting for someone to open the sally port door.

Vorachith also argued that the state did not prove he knowingly or purposefully caused Nguyen’s death. The Court of Appeals disagreed.

Vorachith’s actions before and after the shooting, as well as the fact that he shot Nguyen “at almost point-blank range three times,” could be interpreted as demonstrating intent to kill Nguyen, Judge Rita Gruber wrote in the court’s opinion.