AG challenging dismissal of case in deadly collision

The Arkansas attorney general's office has appealed a case to the state Supreme Court concerning the one-year statute of limitations on filing misdemeanor criminal charges.

Prosecuting Attorney Teresa Howell of Malvern said David Raupp, senior assistant attorney general, called her on Monday to tell her that his office was filing the appeal. A Supreme Court docket was opened Monday in the case, and a brief is due by March 18 from the attorney general's office.

The case stems from a May 19, 2015, crash in Hot Spring County that killed four members of a Bismarck family. Howell filed misdemeanor negligent homicide charges against Benjamin Ward Ledwell, now 34, of Texarkana.

On Nov. 29, Hot Spring County Circuit Judge Chris Williams dismissed the case against Ledwell because Williams said charges weren't filed within the one-year time period -- by May 19.

Howell said she filed the charges three days before the May 19 deadline, but a deputy clerk didn't open a criminal docket in the case until a warrant was served and returned on June 6. By then, when the charges were officially time-stamped in the file, it was past the one-year deadline.

Howell filed a notice of appeal on Dec. 8, but she said it was ultimately up to the attorney general's office to decide whether to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court.

Howell said one of the high court's administrative orders conflicts with state law regarding when the clock starts on the statute of limitations.

"The [circuit] court relied on Administrative Order 2(b), which presents a conflict with Arkansas Code Annotated 5-1-109(f), which tolls the time when the arrest warrant is prepared," Howell wrote in her notice of appeal. "As a result, four counts of negligent homicide were dismissed."

According to A.C.A. 5-1-109(f), "A prosecution is commenced when an arrest warrant or other process is issued based on an indictment, information or other charging instrument if the arrest warrant or other process is sought to be executed without unreasonable delay."

But according to Supreme Court Administrative Order 2(b), the clock starts running when charging documents are time-stamped and officially filed. The order states that "a judgment, decree or order is 'entered' when stamped or otherwise marked by the clerk with the time and date and the word 'filed.'"

Williams wrote in his order that it was "clear and undisputed" that the pertinent documents weren't filed by the circuit clerk's office until June 6, after the statute of limitations had expired.

Howell argues that, under A.C.A. 5-1-109(f), prosecution commenced when she filed a cover sheet, criminal information and affidavit for arrest warrant with the circuit clerk's office May 16.

Judd Deere, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, agreed.

"An appeal is warranted in this case because the prosecution commenced when the arrest warrant was issued within the one-year statute of limitations time period," he said in an email.

Teresa Pilcher, the chief deputy circuit clerk in Hot Spring County, testified in a Nov. 10 court hearing.

According to court documents, Pilcher said she followed standard procedure in her office. The circuit clerks in Hot Spring County hold criminal information-charging paperwork, cover sheets and affidavits from the prosecutor's office in a file until after the arrest warrant has been served and returned to their office. Then they open a criminal docket file in the computer system.

Pilcher said she issued a bench warrant for Ledwell on May 16. On June 2, Ledwell surrendered at the Hot Spring County jail.

On May 19, 2015, Ledwell was involved in a crash on Arkansas 7 in Hot Spring County that killed four members of a Bismarck family: Cindy Rhein, Allen Rhein, Steven Sprankle and Anthony Sprankle.

Ledwell was driving a 2011 Ford F-250 pickup. Cindy Rhein was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander.

According to an affidavit from Special Agent Jimmie O. Thomas II with the Arkansas State Police, Ledwell's northbound truck crossed the centerline of the two-lane highway and struck the Uplander in the southbound lane.

After the crash, the Uplander caught fire and burned, with three of the victims still inside.

An injured Ledwell was helicoptered to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs. According to the affidavit, a blood sample taken from Ledwell at the hospital tested positive for benzodiazepines, a class of psychoactive drugs that includes Librium and Valium.

In addition, drugs were taken from Ledwell at the hospital, including loose Xanex pills that were found in his sock, according to the affidavit.

Ledwell told police that he hadn't consumed any alcohol or drugs that day. He told emergency room personnel that he had leaned over to pick up something on the floorboard and drifted into the wrong lane, according to the affidavit.

Metro on 02/09/2017

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