Lawyer gets 6 years' probation, fine in fatal drug deal

Andrea Davis is shown in this Garland County Sheriff booking photo from January 2014.
Andrea Davis is shown in this Garland County Sheriff booking photo from January 2014.

HOT SPRINGS -- A manslaughter charge against a Hot Springs lawyer in a fatal 2012 shooting was dismissed as part of a plea deal Wednesday.

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Garland County Circuit Judge Lynn Williams accepted a guilty plea from Andrea Davis to unlawful use of a communication device and sentenced her to six years' probation, a $1,500 fine and 80 hours of community service.

Davis and her brother, Matthew Davis, were originally charged with manslaughter in the Feb. 29, 2012, shooting death of business associate Maxwell Anderson, 34, of Garland County. Davis' plea came just two weeks after Matthew Davis pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of negligent homicide and was sentenced to a year's probation, court costs and 80 hours of community service.

"She should at least be made to apologize," Terry Babbs, Anderson's aunt, cried out from the second row of the courtroom before the proceedings began and prior to Andrea Davis' entry into the room.

Anderson's sister, Tara Lukach, said Saline County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brian Clary, the special prosecutor assigned to the case, had told the family before Wednesday morning's hearing that a plea deal had been offered.

Investigators said in court records that Matthew Davis shot Anderson in the chest at close range with a Smith & Wesson Governor revolver in the driveway of Andrea Davis' home at 251 Ledgerwood Drive. Both Andrea Davis and Matthew Davis maintained through the investigation that the shooting was in self-defense because Anderson attacked Davis in her home.

The Governor revolver can fire .410-gauge shotgun shells as well as .45-caliber bullets.

According to investigators' affidavits, Andrea Davis had made arrangements through several text messages with Anderson two days before he died to buy $1,200 in methamphetamine. Over the next three days, numerous phone calls and volatile text messages were exchanged between Anderson and the brother and sister, as the Davises became convinced that Anderson had cheated them, detectives said in an affidavit.

About a dozen members of Anderson's family -- many of whom had traveled from Texas and Minnesota for the hearing -- filled wooden benches in the courtroom. The front rows closest to Andrea Davis had been roped off, and there was a heavy police presence outside and inside the courtroom.

Many of Anderson's family members wept during the 10-minute proceedings. Lukach alternately clutched a black binder to her chest and flipped through the pictures of Anderson encased inside.

The family largely remained quiet but balked at a statement by Williams that "this was not a violent crime," when the judge referred to the charge for which Andrea Davis pleaded guilty.

"Not a violent crime? You can kill someone and it's not a violent crime?" an Anderson family member said loudly, followed by murmured comments and gasps from others.

Before the proceedings, Andrea Davis gazed downward as she walked into the courtroom from a side door alongside her attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig. She did not look into the courtroom gallery.

She sat quietly at the defense table, legs crossed with a high-heel pump dangling from her foot, nervously bobbing up and down.

After standing in front of the judge and answering questions "yes" or "no," Andrea Davis turned around to walk back to her seat but did not make eye contact with the crowd, again gazing downward.

"You understand that this is how you're going to live during the next 82 months?" Williams asked her.

"Yes, sir," she answered.

In an interview after the short hearing, Rosenzweig called the manslaughter charges "baseless."

"Matthew Davis was protecting Andi from a drug-addled Maxx Anderson," he said. "Those are the facts of the case."

Rosenzweig also acknowledged Andrea Davis' "ongoing" drug problem.

"It will always be an issue," Rosenzweig said. "The drugs she was attempting to purchase were for her own use; not to sell."

Standing next to him, Andrea Davis looked up and said she was rebuilding her life after spending time in a voluntary drug rehabilitation program.

"I'm in recovery," she said. "I'm not an active addict, but it will be with me for the rest of my life."

On Wednesday, Williams approved Andrea Davis' request that she be allowed to fulfill her probation out of state if she chooses to do so.

When asked if she was moving out of Arkansas, Andrea Davis' eyes widened, and she silently turned to Rosenzweig.

"She has a fresh start with her life. She's starting over," Rosenzweig said. "Whether she does that in Arkansas or some other state has not been decided yet."

Andrea Davis made headlines when former Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel withdrew from the governor's race after announcing he had an inappropriate relationship with Davis.

Outside the courthouse, Anderson's family -- most of whom were dressed in orange T-shirts with the logo "Justice for Maxx" printed on them -- gathered to comfort one another. Some were sobbing and holding each other up, while others talked about Anderson, laughing as stories of an energetic, generous father of a teenager were exchanged.

Anderson's father, Gary Anderson, just wants the world to know that his son's life mattered.

"He was a hardworking young man. A good man. He was full of life. He was a father, a brother, a son, a friend. He was not a drug addict. He barely even drank," Gary Anderson said, removing his wire-rimmed glasses and swiping at his eyes.

"He didn't deserve to be murdered over her drug habit," he added.

Sitting on a brick wall lining the flowerbed in front of the courthouse, Lukach again flipped through the black binder. She gingerly removed Anderson's birth certificate from its plastic sleeve. Her eyes, full of unshed tears, stared at the paper as she traced her brother's embossed name with her finger.

Hands shaking, she turned to the last page in the binder -- her brother's death certificate.

"This is how a life ends. ... I am disgusted and heartbroken," she said, laying the birth certificate on top of the death certificate. "I've been carrying this around with me for three years, and this is how it ends? I feel like they just killed my brother all over again today. I don't know if I will ever heal. There's a black hole in my heart."

State Desk on 05/28/2015

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