HOT SPRINGS -- Suspended Garland County Circuit Judge Wade Naramore of Hot Springs pleaded innocent Friday to a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide in the heat-related death of his 17-month-old son in July 2015.
Naramore's attorneys immediately pushed for a jury trial, which is scheduled to start June 14 before retired Pulaski County Circuit Judge John Langston in the 18th Judicial Circuit Court-East. A pretrial hearing is set for June 3.
Attorney Patrick Benca of Benca & Benca spoke for Naramore on Friday. Benca and co-counsel Erin Cassinelli of Lassiter & Cassinelli told Langston that they expected the trial to last three to four days.
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.
Naramore, 36, was arrested Feb. 11, more than six months after Hot Springs police released the findings of a preliminary investigation that determined Naramore's son, Thomas, died July 24 from excessive heat after being left unattended in a car in Hot Springs.
A probable-cause affidavit filed with the arrest warrant said Naramore told police that he had forgotten to drop Thomas off at day care that morning and that the infant had been left in the car about five hours. Naramore was going to pick up the child when he realized he hadn't dropped him off, the affidavit said.
Garland County Coroner Stuart Smedley said in a police report that the child's core temperature was 107 degrees. When officers responded to the 911 call, the outside temperature was between 97 and 98.1 degrees, with a heat index ranging between 104.8 and 106.5 degrees.
Last month, 18th Judicial District East Circuit Judge John Homer Wright recused himself and other circuit judges serving the jurisdiction because Naramore serves as a circuit judge in the jurisdiction.
Naramore is free on $5,000 bond and was suspended with pay Feb. 18 by the Arkansas Supreme Court at the recommendation of the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. Other judges, both sitting and retired, have been filling in for Naramore since he voluntarily stepped down from the bench days after his son's death.
Naramore did not fight the commission's recommendation. His annual salary is 16 cents shy of $160,000.
Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington of Jonesboro, who was assigned in August as a special prosecutor to investigate the toddler's death, said Friday that picking a jury for the trial "will take a long time," later clarifying that as "a day or so."
Ellington said he and his assistants, Crittenden County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tom Young and Craighead County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Charles Finkenbinder, believe they won't have any trouble finding potential jurors in Garland County who have not been following the case. Ellington said the defense has not indicated that Naramore will seek a change of venue from the very courthouse in which he presided as circuit judge.
"I'm not saying that they're not going to [ask for a change of venue], but they haven't indicated that they will," Ellington said.
Supporters of the Naramore family packed the section of the gallery behind the defendant Friday. Naramore's wife, Ashley, sat on the front row, and bailiffs passed out tissues to Naramore's supporters before the arraignment began.
After the arraignment, a supporter of Naramore's asked a bank of television, print and online reporters waiting outside the courtroom if they would leave.
"No way I can talk you all into leaving?" the woman asked. "Going somewhere else? Doing anything else?"
Several more supporters stood in a line with their arms locked together in a row to try to keep reporters and cameramen from filming or talking to Naramore as he exited the courtroom and headed downstairs.
When Naramore was asked if he had anything to say to the public, he said "no" and continued downstairs.
Several reporters were getting on an elevator to try to catch Naramore at the bottom of the stairs when a disturbance broke out between two media members and an unidentified female supporter of Naramore in the elevator.
KARK-TV, Channel 4, reporter Marci Manley entered the elevator, followed by the Naramore supporter. As KARK cameraman Ross Cook tried to get on the elevator, he bumped into the Naramore supporter, who in turn knocked Manley to the floor of the elevator.
The Naramore supporter yelled "You pushed me!" at Cook. The cameraman replied "No," and the supporter yelled, "Yes, you did! You pushed me into her!"
"No, no, you knocked her down," Cook said. "That was horrible."
"You are a bully," the woman replied.
"She pushed me to the ground," a shaken Manley said moments after the incident. "I've never been physically assaulted like that before in my life."
Manley said Friday afternoon that she had filed a report with the Hot Springs police because she wanted the incident documented.
"We attempted to get in the elevator, and what we understood to be a supporter -- because they identified themselves as family -- was trying to keep the elevator from going down," Manley said. "They got physical, and I ended up on the ground."
Naramore's arraignment Friday marked his first court appearance since his arrest, and Manley admitted it was a tense situation.
"We understand that it's an emotional situation ... but we really didn't mean any disrespect to anyone," Manley said. "We were simply trying to do our jobs in the best way we knew how."
Cassinelli, one of Naramore's attorneys, said she was aware of the incident.
"According to the information I have received, Ms. Manley's cameraman, while in a rush to get in a crowded elevator to attempt to beat the Naramores and I downstairs to get additional footage, bumped or pushed this woman once and perhaps twice, possibly stepping on her foot, and causing her to come into contact with Ms. Manley," Cassinelli said. "I have confirmed that this woman suffered minor injuries as a result of the cameraman's contact.
"My client and I were not in the elevator at the time."
State Desk on 03/12/2016