Pulaski County prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to again reconsider allowing evidence taken from the car of a man charged in the death of a central Arkansas real estate agent to be presented at his trial.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright has twice ruled that evidence obtained from the car of Arron Lewis cannot be presented in his trial. Lewis' trial on kidnapping and capital murder charges in the 2014 slaying of Beverly Carter is set to begin Jan. 12.
Wright previously ruled that a search warrant obtained by the Pulaski County sheriff's office was overly broad, and that items gathered as evidence in Lewis' car were obtained illegally.
In previous court filing, chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson stated that deputies had collected materials during a lawful inventory search of the car, which had been wrecked in a traffic accident. He argued that all of the car evidence should be allowed in the trial because deputies would have found it anyway while inventorying the car's contents.
Wright ruled that it was clear that authorities had not obtained evidence from the car through a routine inventory of its contents when it was towed.
Among the items that investigators reported finding in the car were green duct tape and white rope.
"I'm not necessarily saying that the tape would not or would have automatically been included in an inventory search, but the fact of the matter is that in the inventory vehicle storage report that was completed ... white rope was noted in that report," Johnson said. "The point is not what they are or are not supposed to issue in the inventory search, the point is whether or not they inevitably would have gotten to the trunk to see the trunk."
Johnson submitted photos of the car's trunk at Wednesday's hearing, showing that when it was opened blond hair matching Carter's was immediately visible.
Lewis' attorneys argued that an inventory search cannot be used to rummage for evidence. They also argued that an inventory search is for items of significant value to make sure nothing is stolen or lost during the car's impounding.
"They towed it from the scene, which the whole point of inventory is to do it before you tow it so that there's no claims of loss or damaged property. Once you tow it from the scene, you've lost that motive, that rationale," said Lee Short, one of Lewis' attorneys.
Wright ruled earlier this month that many of the statements Lewis made to investigators could not be used at his trial because he had asked for an attorney and was not provided with one.
Wright said he will rule on the prosecutors' request by Tuesday.
Information for this article was contributed by John Lynch of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 12/31/2015