A judge will consider next week a mental evaluation that found the man charged in the kidnapping and killing of a Little Rock real estate agent fit to proceed to trial.
Arron Lewis, 34, was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, but he was not transported from an Arkansas Department of Correction facility and Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert Wright set a hearing next Wednesday instead.
Lewis' mental evaluation, which was filed Thursday, found him fit to proceed despite being found to have antisocial personality disorder. Wright still must accept the finding, which is expected to be one matter discussed at the hearing.
Lewis and his estranged wife, 42-year-old Crystal Lowery, are each charged with capital murder in the killing of Realtor Beverly Carter, whose body was found last year in a shallow grave in northern Pulaski County days after she disappeared after going to show a home in Scott.
Lowery, who is being held at the Pulaski County jail pending trial, was in court Thursday, though no action was taken beyond setting the Wednesday hearing date for her as well. Lowery's attorney has not requested a mental evaluation for her.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Johnson said he wasn't clear on the complication that caused Lewis not to be transported, though he believed it was a transportation problem. Lewis, who was returned to prison after his parole was revoked, is being held in the Department of Correction's maximum security unit at Tucker.
The Arkansas State Hospital report from clinical psychologist Dr. Melissa Dannacher, released after the hearing, noted that Lewis complained frequently about this attorney but has an "adequate level of factual understanding of criminal proceedings" despite having a "highly negative view of his attorney."
The mental evaluation was requested by Lewis' attorney, Jim Hensley, over Lewis' objections.
"...[T]he manner in which [Lewis] tends to handle disagreements is reflective of the pervasive impulsivity and narcissism associated with his severe personality pathology," Dannacher wrote. "Nevertheless, he does not display symptoms of a mental disease or defect that would preclude his capacity to work with his attorney effectively if he so chooses."
Dannacher said Lewis in an interview expressed concerns about getting a fair trial.
"Mr. Lewis was well aware of his legal charges and the evidence in his case," she wrote. "He also understood the possible outcomes in his case as 'pleading' down to life in prison or receiving the death penalty. He claimed to prefer the death penalty over life in a state prison."
Dannacher added that Lewis said he would not testify or accept a plea bargain. And she wrote that Lewis claimed his confession to investigators was "coerced" while denying he was responsible for Carter's kidnapping or killing.
"He claimed that during the interrogation, 'They were beating the s*** out of me,' and that his face was 'smashed into the wall in the bathroom,'" Dannacher wrote. "He further claimed that he was 'yelling for help' and asked for his lawyer repeatedly."
Lewis repeatedly said he did not intend to pursue a defense of innocent by reason of mental disease or defect, Dannacher wrote. She wrote that because of that, she did not include Lewis' statements about "events on the day of the alleged offenses."
Dannacher wrote that Lewis "rambled off-topic a great deal," answered only questions to which he could speak about his own concerns and at times even made "pejorative statements" about Carter.
"For example, he stated, 'It'll be a real shocker when everyone hears what the good girl did,'" Dannacher wrote.
Johnson said he could not comment on the findings in Lewis' mental evaluation before the judge decides whether to accept its findings at the next hearing.
