HOT SPRINGS -- Attorneys for Circuit Judge Wade Naramore repeated their request for a video Wednesday that they say shows Naramore was unaware he had left his 18-month-old son in the back seat of a car.
The motion seeks a hearing on the status of the video related to the negligent-homicide case that a special prosecutor filed against Naramore in February regarding the July 24, 2015, death of his son, Thomas, who was left in the back seat of a hot car. A July 29 pretrial hearing ahead of the Aug. 15 trial date was scheduled last month.
The motion indicates that the defense first requested the video March 14, the Monday after Naramore's arraignment on the Class A misdemeanor charge. On May 27, the special prosecutor's office informed the defense that the tape was "lost," having been "moved around" since Hot Springs Police Department investigator Mark Fallis placed it on his computer.
The defense said that was the first time it had been informed the video was unavailable. At a June 3 hearing, the defense said it was told the court building's server, the Police Department server, Fallis' desktop computer and a thumb drive had all been sent to the state Crime Laboratory.
The defense said it contacted the Crime Lab on July 13 and was told by an analyst that the entirety of the video could not be retrieved but a short excerpt from the day of the incident was recovered. The special prosecutor's office told the defense the next day that Fallis said the Crime Lab was "working very hard to obtain the whole video" but that only a short segment had been accessed.
The motion states the defense was told by the Crime Lab analyst that he was "finished trying with the items submitted to him."
"It is unclear whether the evidence was ever stored, who accessed it, and how it came to be missing," the motion states. "The last communication to the court pertaining to it was that the video had been located, but it has not been and has not been provided to the defense."
The motion says the video, according to Fallis' report, shows Naramore arriving at the Garland County Courts Building at 8:34 a.m. on the day of the death. It captures Naramore parking in his assigned space and entering the building before leaving at 11:55 a.m.
The motion says Fallis' report contains no other information and that Naramore made a few stops after leaving the courts building. After returning home, he gathered items to take his son swimming and left the residence. That's when Naramore realized the child had been left in the vehicle. Naramore called 911 shortly before 3 p.m., according to the affidavit in support of his Feb. 11 arrest.
Naramore's attorneys argue that the video points to Naramore being unaware that his son was in the car. Had it shown otherwise, the motion argues, Naramore would have been arrested after authorities first viewed the video last summer.
"The video tape was, at the time of its destruction, obviously material, exculpatory evidence" the motion argues. "This video showed the moment Mr. Naramore parked and exited his vehicle without any indication he was aware of the presence of his son in the backseat.
"It is actual video evidence of the exact moment in time that the prosecution claims the alleged crime was committed."
Erin Cassinelli, Naramore's lead attorney, and Tom Young, the deputy prosecutor assigned to the case from the 2nd Judicial Circuit in northeast Arkansas, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
State Desk on 07/22/2016