A 33-year-old North Little Rock man who killed a motorist during a May 2013 road-rage confrontation was sentenced to three years in prison for manslaughter Wednesday night after a two-day trial.
The two-day proceeding was the third time that Chris Aaron Schnarr has stood trial for the shooting death of Arista Lee "A.J." Aldridge Jr., 45, on Sixth Street in downtown Little Rock.
It's the second time he's been convicted and sentenced to prison for the slaying. He will have to serve at least six months before he's eligible for parole.
Schnarr was originally charged with first-degree murder, accused of deliberately killing Aldridge. He was facing a manslaughter charge on Wednesday -- an accusation that he had recklessly shot Aldridge -- because the second jury to hear his case reduced the charge from murder to manslaughter and sentenced him to 10 years in 2015.
His first trial, in 2014, ended in a mistrial because those jurors could not reach a verdict. His manslaughter conviction was overturned on appeal in January on a technicality by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
The justices, split 6-1, ruled that the 2015 trial had not been conducted under the required open-courtroom proceedings so Schnarr deserved a third trial.
Wednesday, a third jury deliberated about two hours to find Schnarr guilty. Deciding on the three-year sentence took the seven women and five men about 30 minutes.
Prosecutors Robbie Jones and Kelly Ward told jurors that the deadly encounter between the men was completely avoidable. Aldridge might have been the initial aggressor, but Schnarr drew out the confrontation and had plenty of time and opportunities to get away from the older man. Both were engaging in "silly macho stuff" but only Schnarr was armed, Jones told jurors.
"The state's position is not that Arista Aldridge is a perfect angel," Jones told jurors. "He was not in the right ... but none of that should have cost him his life."
Ward said Schnarr killed an unarmed man in the middle of the day on a city street because they'd argued.
She said Schnarr had waited, gun in hand, in his own car for Aldridge to get out of his vehicle and then walk up to Schnarr's Jeep.
Schnarr could have used that time to drive away, she said, but having a gun emboldened Schnarr to shoot first and ask questions later, Ward said.
"He shot because he wanted to," the prosecutor said. "He chooses to shoot at him not once, not twice but three times."
Aldridge was struck twice. A bullet went through his left shoulder while the fatal shot went through his abdomen and severed his aorta.
Schnarr was a college student heading downtown to finish a school project when Aldridge nearly caused a collision between them, defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig told jurors.
The men exchanged words then a "totally enraged" Aldridge chose to chase Schnarr down, block the younger man's car with his own then get out and confront Schnarr, who stayed in his vehicle, the attorney said.
"Chris didn't ask to be in that situation," Rosenzweig told jurors. "He was the one who was chased down. He was the one who was accosted. He was a victim of circumstance."
Rosenzweig, who was assisted by attorney Jay Gerard, promised a second appeal to challenge what he characterized as a quirk in Arkansas case law that prevents manslaughter defendants like Schnarr from being able to argue they acted in self-defense.
Rosenzweig had been able to argue his client was protecting himself at Schnarr's previous trials because the defendant had been charged with murder.
Schnarr testified that he had done what anyone else in his position would have done when confronted by an angry larger man, although he acknowledged he could see that Aldridge wasn't carrying a weapon.
The midday encounter between the men began after they nearly collided about a block and a half to the east on the Interstate 30 frontage road. Aldridge, who was at fault, yelled obscenities at Schnarr who stopped and responded in kind, then headed west on Sixth with Aldridge following, according to testimony.
Aldridge overtook Schnarr and the two men briefly exchanged more words from their speeding sport utility vehicles. Aldridge, his girlfriend and toddler son in his car, pulled past the defendant then stopped in the street ahead of Schnarr. The defendant said he had to stop to keep from crashing into Aldridge's vehicle.
Metro on 11/30/2017