A 73-year-old man serving two life sentences is seeking to reverse his convictions and secure another trial, according to a court document obtained by News 3, which argues that the previous murder trial in Virginia Beach was not fair.
James King is currently serving two life sentences for assaulting and murdering Lexie Walters back in 2020 at a Virginia Beach Days Inn. It’s not his first murder conviction: He previously served 20 years in jail for violently murdering a woman in Ohio back in 1986.
The court document seeking a new trial for King argued that Virginia prosecutors should not have been allowed to present previous evidence from King’s Ohio murder conviction. During the initial trial against King, prosecutors argued — and the trial court agreed — that this evidence shared enough similarities with the 2020 Virginia Beach murder case. However, the appellate argument claims this evidence did not meet the “modus operandi” standard, arguing it should have been rejected because the cases were not similar enough — specifically noting that they took place decades apart and in different states…