LITTLE ROCK — Evidence collected in the high-profile 1993 murders of three Cub Scouts in northeast Arkansas cannot be released to their parents under the state’s open-records law, though they may be able to pursue other legal avenues, a judge ruled this week.
The ruling came in a lawsuit that seeks access to evidence in the slayings of 8-year-old friends Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers. Three men were convicted as teenagers for the murders in 1994 but released last year after years of questions about the case.
Branch’s mother, Pam Hicks, and Byers’ father, John Mark Byers, argued in the lawsuit that police and prosecutors violated Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act by not allowing them to examine items, including a bicycle and clothing.
In a ruling filed late Monday in Crittenden County, Judge Victor Hill said neither West Memphis police nor prosecutor Scott Ellington violated the open-records law. But the judge added: “These items might be available for viewing under some other provision of the statutory or common law, which plaintiffs are free to argue at a later hearing.”
Hicks’ lawyer, Ken Swindle, said late Tuesday that he respectfully disagreed with Hill’s decision but noted that the judge didn’t close the door on the case.
“We’re not going to appeal right now because we still have to have another hearing on the common law rights, so the case is not over,” Swindle said.
David Peeples, the West Memphis city attorney, said the judge’s decision shows that the Freedom of Information Act applies to public records and is not a vehicle for someone to view physical evidence.
“Whether or not the police department at some point finds that they want to make arrangements to do something different, that’ll be a discussion for another day, but not under the Freedom of Information law,” Peeples said.