HOT SPRINGS -- Nearly a year after a Garland County circuit judge's son died after being left in a hot car, the presiding judge in the case granted a prosecution motion Friday to delay the trial.
The prosecution argued that more preparation time was needed to try the negligent homicide case against Garland County Circuit Judge Wade Naramore because the majority of the prosecution team was only recently assigned. Lead prosecutor Charles Finkenbinder was taken off the case last week to fill an absence in another court.
"Trying this case now puts me behind the eight ball," deputy prosecutor Thomas Young told special Circuit Judge John Langston.
Defense counsel Erin Cassinelli objected, saying the two sides agreed from the beginning that Naramore would receive a speedy trial in the misdemeanor case. She added that all the reasons stated for the requested delay were directly caused by the prosecution's own actions.
"It's not my problem," Cassinelli repeated numerous times throughout the hearing in response to Young's statements.
The case against Naramore, 36, was originally scheduled to go to trial June 14-17. On Friday, Langston set a hearing for June 14 to resolve a defense motion for a jury questionnaire and to set a new trial date.
Naramore pleaded innocent in March after he was arrested Feb. 11 in the July 24 death of his 17-month-old son, Thomas. Authorities determined that Thomas died from excessive heat after being left unattended in Naramore's car.
Negligent homicide is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
"I don't want to delay this for any reason," Cassinelli said. It's time, she said, for Naramore's family and the public to get some closure and move on with their lives.
Naramore sat cross-legged at the defense table throughout the hourlong hearing. He alternately tapped his fingers on the table, and at times would lean forward with his head in his hands, his face red and eyes misty.
Cassinelli told the court she was "adamantly opposed" to moving the trial to the fall.
Young countered that he had felony cases set for trial in July and that those take "precedence over a misdemeanor" case like Naramore's.
"Those are very serious crimes," Young said, adding that some of the felony cases involve life sentences.
Cassinelli abruptly countered, "The Naramores have a life sentence; they lost a son."
When granting the motion to delay the trial, Langston, with a hand to his forehead, said that a timely trial was a "big concern" but "I don't think we've allowed ourselves enough time to try this case."
Naramore's face reddened and his eyes glistened with unshed tears as he dipped his head into the palm of his left hand. He shook his head back and forth continuously.
At the beginning of the hearing, Langston asked Young for a status update about missing evidence. Cassinelli told an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter on Tuesday that the Hot Springs Police Department had "apparently lost evidence."
It was later determined that a thumb drive containing Naramore's phone records could not be accessed and a video "could not be retrieved from the police computer system."
The video allegedly shows Naramore going inside the courthouse on the day his son died and returning several hours later. A court affidavit said Naramore told police he had forgotten to drop Thomas off at day care.
The state Crime Laboratory now has the Hot Springs Police Department servers and is trying to recover the evidence, Langston said.
Young said in an interview after the hearing that the evidence is not "lost" nor "missing." It is still there on the servers, and on the thumb drive, just not accessible.
"We didn't drop it off with a homeless guy. It is in a machine," Young said. "We're trying our best to recover it from our machine or to see if someone else has a copy."
Cassinelli said in an interview after the hearing that the information on the thumb drive may not necessarily be pertinent to the case, but that the video is another story.
"I cannot say how vital the missing evidence is to the case because it's missing, so I have not seen it," Cassinelli said. "I suspect that the video from the courthouse is vital in that it shows Wade and his vehicle during the critical time period and supports that Wade did not realize the child was in the car and neither did numerous people who passed by it that morning."
Young commented during the hearing that if the defense was so concerned about the unavailable evidence that maybe the defense should file a motion to dismiss the case. In an interview afterward, Young said he was "joking."
"No, we are not talking about dismissing the case," Young said.
Cassinelli said the defense cannot determine whether filing a motion to dismiss the case is appropriate until a full response to the bill of particulars filed on May 12 is received. In that motion, the defense claimed the prosecution had not turned over all the evidence in the case.
"If it is not legally sufficient to satisfy due process or otherwise does not provide sufficient information to support the charge, we may have a basis to move for dismissal," Cassinelli said.
At the end of the hearing, Naramore's wife Ashley Naramore reached for her husband over the wooden railing and the two embraced several minutes, both sobbing.
The couple walked out of the courtroom holding hands, with Ashley Naramore leaning into her husband's side.
Naramore voluntarily stepped down from the bench days after his son's death. He was suspended with pay Feb. 18 by the Arkansas Supreme Court at the recommendation of the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. His annual salary is about $160,000.
Metro on 06/04/2016