Claim hasn't yet made it to Little Rock

!"Estate of dead man seeks $750,000 from the state

By Annette Beard

PEA RIDGE — The Arkansas State Claims Commission has not received a complaint against the Pea Ridge Police Department in the death of Ty Smith.

Smith died Dec. 3, 2008, after he was shot by Pea Ridge police officer John Langham. That complaint was reportedly filed by Fayetteville attorney Bobby Lee Odom on behalf of Eiko Sheppard, who is administrating Smith's estate.

Even if the State Claims Commission had received the complaint, it would have been returned, according to officials in the Little Rock office, because the commission handles complaints filed against state offices and state officials.

The commission's purpose is to "hear and adjudicate claims against the state of Arkansas, its agencies and institutions," according to the commission's Web site.

Listed as the "state agency" is "Officer John Langham" and the "Pea Ridge Police Department."

The Pea Ridge Police Department is a municipal agency, not a state agency. Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said he has not received a copy of the letter or complaint.

"The first time I had an opportunity to see it was about a week ago when I received a call from a reporter from The Benton County Daily Record," Ledbetter said. "It hasn't been delivered to me yet."

Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Van Stone said he received a copy of the complaint early last week, but his office has no position on it because his office will not represent anyone in the issue. He said he did not notify others because he saw they were to receive copies.

Odom was in depositions Tuesday and was unavailable for comment.

Odom's cover letter states: "I am enclosing the Arkansas State Claims Commission complaint form. I assume that the ASCC will notify the necessary state parties."

Sheppard, Smith's mother, asks for $750,000 and states in the complaint that the death of her son, "a known paranoid schizophrenic," was due to "failure to follow proper law enforcement procedure."

Langham responded to a call of shots being fired in the 500 block of McCulloch Street the night of Dec. 3. After the shooting, he was on administrative leave with pay until cleared of wrongdoing by the Prosecutor's Office.

Stone found the shooting was a justified use of deadly force.

News, Pages 1, 11 on 07/29/2009

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