The December murder trial of a Little Rock man accused of killing his wife has been indefinitely delayed after the recusal Thursday of the Pulaski County circuit judge who has presided over the case for the past 13 months.
Judge Barry Sims said he stepped aside to avoid any appearance of impropriety. At issue were text messages Sims said he received from a "very vocal" acquaintance who had "harsh things" to say before Timothy Benjamin Clevenger was charged in November 2018.
Sims said he disclosed the messages to prosecutors and public defenders in his courtroom at the time, then forgot about them until defense attorneys Patrick Benca and Jessica Duncan Johnston brought them to his attention Wednesday.
Sims said the messages did not affect his ability to impartially preside over the case, but that he was turning the proceedings over to another judge, who would be chosen at random by the circuit clerk, to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
Sims apologized for the resulting delay, saying he had been intent on seeing the case resolved at trial in December because Clevenger, who is charged with first-degree murder, has been jailed for so long awaiting trial.
Constitutional speedy-trial requirements, as interpreted by the Arkansas Supreme Court, generally require incarcerated defendants to be tried within nine months. But a judge can extend the proceedings if he finds there is a good reason to delay.
Sims has twice pushed back Clevenger's trial at the request of the defense. At a June hearing postponing the trial for a second time, the judge said he would not allow further delays, absent extraordinary circumstances. The lawyers said they needed the extra time to hire and consult a blood-spatter expert.
Judge Leon Johnson received the case assignment. Johnson has until Dec. 3 to call a hearing to set a new trial schedule.
Thursday's hearing had been to resolve 14 mostly routine defense pretrial motions. Among them, however, is a challenge to the legality of the police search of the Clevenger home and the defendant's interview with detectives.
Clevenger's lawyers also have asked the judge to make prosecutors submit a "bill of particulars," which is a more detailed description of the evidence that supports the murder charge. The attorneys say they need more information about the allegation to prepare his defense.
"The state has provided defense counsel with a voluminous amount of discovery in this matter that raises more questions regarding the alleged murder and cause of death than provides explanations or answers," the motion states. "The felony information alleges that Mr. Clevenger caused the death of Margaret Clevenger but does not give information as to how this death was caused or by what means did the murder occur. There has not been a murder weapon identified nor has a timeline or sequence of events been provided to demonstrate when Mr. Clevenger committed the alleged offense."
Margaret "Meg" Clevenger, 56, was found dead at the couple's west Little Rock home on Labor Day 2018. Police had been called to the residence by Timothy Clevenger, 59, who said he had returned home from his morning workout to find his wife bloody and unconscious by the bottom of the stairs.
She had been fine when he had left at least 45 minutes earlier, Clevenger told police, according to arrest reports. The couple had been married for more than 30 years, spent most of their married life in the home and had three children.
Police questioned Timothy Clevenger, who was briefly hospitalized for a panic attack that same day, but investigators did not arrest him for another three weeks. He's been jailed ever since.
Authorities say Meg Clevenger died from a beating that left cuts, scrapes and bruises on her head and face and inflicted at least three skull fractures, one of them in her face.
Timothy Clevenger's lawyers have challenged that accusation, pointing to a broken staircase handrail support and blood spatter next to the stairs as evidence that she was fatally injured from falling down the staircase of the two-story, 1,900-square-foot home on Old Forge Court. They've accused police of ignoring the likelihood her death was accidental and exaggerating the significance of the discovery of some small bloodstains around the house where the family had lived for so long.
Investigators waited to arrest Clevenger until the state Crime Laboratory could perform DNA tests on blood found in spatters and pools at the family home. According to the arrest affidavit, police arrested Clevenger because of where investigators found blood in the home and where they didn't find it.
Police did not find any blood on the family dog, despite Clevenger telling detectives that the pet was inside when he got home and found his stricken wife. But despite "extensive blood" spread across two rooms, there was no blood on the animal or any paw prints, according to the arrest affidavit.
Clevenger said he let the dog outside through the laundry room before finding his wife. Investigators found blood from Meg Clevenger on the washing machine, light switch and doorway, the affidavit states.
Police also reported finding blood from the woman in the kitchen sink on the faucet with faint stains on a kitchen towel, and another blood-marked towel was found in the washing machine. Police also reported finding a spot of her blood in the shower of the upstairs master bathroom.
Timothy Clevenger told police he had not gone upstairs or cleaned himself up since finding his wife and trying -- at the request of the 911 dispatcher -- to render first-aid, which included moving her into another room to try to resuscitate her.
Investigators also noted discrepancies in his version of events, including the description of the route he drove to the gym for his workout, which they said is contradicted by video from a traffic camera. Clevenger also had changed clothes since going to the gym, although he told police he was wearing the clothes he had worked out in.
A four-day police search of the house found no sign of a break-in, and investigators ruled out a robbery because there were valuables in plain sight, including a computer and Meg Clevenger's purse. She also was found wearing a diamond pendant.
Metro on 10/25/2019