A mistrial was declared late Friday after 12 jurors in U.S. District Court in Harrison couldn't agree on whether Bull Shoals Police Chief Daniel Sutterfield had used excessive force during the July 9, 2013, arrest of Nicholas Dore.
After deliberating for almost eight hours, the jury found Sutterfield innocent of two other charges: falsifying records and conspiring to falsify records.
U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge said the case will be evaluated before the federal government decides whether to move forward on the excessive-force count.
"We respect all jury verdicts," Eldridge said Saturday. "This one is no different. We respect them even in circumstances such as this where we feel the evidence supports the charges."
On Friday morning, Bruce Eddy, the public defender representing Sutterfield, moved for a judgment of acquittal on all three counts. But U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks denied the motion.
After three days of testimony, the jury began deliberating about 3:30 p.m. Friday. A juror was dismissed and replaced two hours later, and deliberations began again. A mistrial was declared at 11:22 p.m. because of the hung jury.
According to a June 25 superseding indictment, Sutterfield "kicked and stomped" Dore, struck him in the head with a shotgun, threw Dore into a fireplace and wall and repeatedly shocked him with a stun gun, all while Dore was in handcuffs.
On Friday, Sutterfield testified that he didn't kick, stomp, hit or throw Dore into a fireplace as prosecutors have alleged. But Sutterfield testified that he did use a stun gun on Dore after he was in handcuffs.
Eddy said Dore was still a threat even though he was in handcuffs.
The arrest stemmed from a domestic abuse report. U.S. attorneys said Dore barricaded himself in the house and wouldn't answer the door, so Sutterfield kicked it in.
Attorneys for the federal government said Sutterfield acted out of anger, not because he felt threatened by Dore.
Two Bull Shoals police officers, David Chatman and Brian Williams, testified during the trial that they saw Sutterfield use unreasonable force against Dore after he was handcuffed.
In his closing argument, Eddy said Sutterfield had used too little force against Dore, who was resisting arrest by not submitting his hands to be cuffed.
Sutterfield was charged with conspiring with Chatman to falsify the police records. Chatman said Sutterfield told him what to write in the report of Dore's arrest on July 9, 2013.
Chatman said he followed the police chief's instructions because he didn't want either of them to get in trouble and he didn't want to lose his job. Chatman said he considered Sutterfield a friend and that the two men had socialized and gone fishing on at least one occasion.
FBI Special Agent Tim Akins testified Wednesday that Chatman began telling agents the truth about the July 9, 2013, arrest about 45 minutes into a six-hour interview April 3.
Chatman and Williams remain with the Bull Shoals Police Department. Sutterfield has been on administrative leave from his position as chief.
Dore, who testified Wednesday, has also filed a civil suit against Sutterfield and Chatman.
The case was prosecuted by Cindy Chung of the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner of Fort Smith.
NW News on 07/20/2014