Attorneys for Kevin Jones, who was acquitted in 2007 of murdering his girlfriend Nona Dirksmeyer, on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing the former Russellville police chief and a detective there of conspiring to withhold and falsify evidence in an effort to prosecute Jones.
Defendants in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Little Rock, are James Bacon, former chief ofthe Russellville Police Department; Russellville police detective Mark Frost; and Gary Dunn, who later was charged but never convicted in Dirksmeyer’s death.
Dunn, 32, was released in April, when special prosecutors dropped murder charges against him after two mistrials when jurors could not agree on a verdict.
The lawsuit was filed exactly six years after Dirksmeyer, 19, was slain Dec. 15, 2005, in her Russellville apartment.
The lawsuit contends, “The defendants aided and abetted one another in a conspiratorial scheme to withhold evidence and falsify information toward having Kevin charged and prosecuted for Nona’s murder, rather than Dunn.”
The defendants “engaged in a conspiracy ... with a common purpose of protecting Dunn from prosecution in order to have Kevin prosecuted for Nona’s murder,” the complaint adds.
The lawsuit, filed by Dermott lawyers Charles Sidney Gibson and Chuck Gibson, seeks monetary damages, but Chuck Gibson said money is the “secondary” goal of the lawsuit by Jones, now 26 and a law student in Little Rock.
Rather, Gibson said,“It’s about justice ... and what happens when the state does somebody wrong. ... What he [Jones] wants is his soul back. That’s what he’s looking for because he was cheated.” The lawsuit contends Frost investigated Dunn’s alibi and “determined it was false” but “lied to Prosecutor David Gibbons by telling him that Dunn’s alibi cleared him.” “Bacon also knew the alibi was false but pointedly did not advise the prosecutor,” the lawsuit adds.
Frost also did not cooperate with a subsequent Arkansas State Police investigation, the complaint says. It says he refused to give over his investigative notes that contained, among other things, “proof of Dunn’s false alibi.” Dunn contended he had been shopping with his mother at a Lowe’s store the day Dirksmeyer died. Yet, Jones’ attorneys noted that a Lowe’s transaction by Dunn’s mother was dated Dec. 14, 2005, not Dec. 15, 2005.
Frost’s investigative notes contained information on her transactions and included these words Frost wrote, “‘No Transactions on 12/15,’” the lawsuit says.
“Frost well knew that Dunn’s alibi was false. Frost never submitted his field notes to Gibbons, consequently, highly exculpatory evidence never made it to Kevin’s defense attorneys.
Yet, he furnished the notes to Dunn’s defense attorneys which influenced their decision not to put Dunn on the stand in his trial,” the complaint says.
Jones’ attorneys said they became aware of the notes Oct. 17, after a gag order in the Dirksmeyer case was lifted, confirming their “suspicions that Frost withheld crucial evidence” from Gibbons and Jones’ criminal defense attorneys.
Gibbons, who prosecuted Jones, did not know about the lawsuit when contacted Thursday and said it would be inappropriate for him to comment.
Authorities have said the killer punched, strangled and tried to cut Dirksmeyer’s throat before using a floor lamp to bludgeon her to death.
Dunn’s attorneys have contended that Jones got away with the crime, while special prosecutor Jack McQuary has said he believes Jones is innocent.
Bacon, now police chief in Nix, Mo., said he had not seen the lawsuit and declined comment Thursday.
Frost did not return a phone message.
Jones’ attorneys said they do not know where Dunn now lives. Bill James, who represented Dunn in both murder trials, declined to say where Dunn lives and said he still contends his client is innocent.
James said police and prosecutors handling the Jones case “didn’t put the evidence together like they should have.” The lawsuit also contends Frost “purposely failed to obtain DNA testing” of a condom wrapper found in Dirskmeyer’s apartment.” DNA experts disagreed in Dunn’s second trial about whether genetic material found on the wrapper belonged to Dunn.
Steve Sheppard, Enfield professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville, said defense attorneys likely will look at whether the statute of limitations has passed.
But he said, “The defense is going to have a hard time getting this [case] dismissed on [statute of] limitations alone.” The statute can vary from one year to 21 years, depending on each part of the case, Sheppard said. Different parts of the lawsuit “could have a different time limit,” he said.
A second statute-of-limitations issue involves when the clock began ticking, Sheppard said. Jones “couldn’t bring his action until he knew they [certain authorities] were not acting in good faith,” he said.
The f inal question is “whether the statute might have been tolled because certain actions by the defendant might stop the action from running ... if the defendant hid the evidence,” Sheppard said.
Dirksmeyer was an Arkansas Tech University music major who often competed in beauty pageants.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 12/16/2011