CONWAY -- A lawyer for a fired sheriff's deputy has insisted that the former officer's appeal be handled in a different judge's courtroom than it normally would have been.
The development came in the case of former Faulkner County deputy Eugene Watlington, who was fined and sentenced to 90 days in jail last week after being convicted of misdemeanor battery in district court. Watlngton's attorney, Lee Short, has filed an appeal in circuit court.
The battery charge resulted from the May 4, 2015, arrest in Conway of Harvey Martin III by sheriff's deputies after a high-speed chase from Mayflower to Conway. A videotaped recording showed Watlington repeatedly kicking Martin with his boot but not helping other deputies with the arrest.
Former Sheriff Andy Shock later fired Watlington for what Shock determined was excessive force.
On Tuesday, the circuit clerk's office posted an unusual notation on the court website about the case's assignment.
The note read: "CWC [Conway City] cases from district court always go to 5th Division. Attorney Short was [adamant] that this case needed to be in [3rd] Division. They called and cleared it with Judge [Charles] Clawson [Jr.] and I called and confirmed before I transferred to 3rd."
Clawson presides over the 20th Judicial Circuit's 3rd Division. Judge H.G. Foster presides over the circuit's 5th Division.
Short did not return a phone message or an email seeking comment sent through his office's website.
Tom Tatum was appointed special prosecutor after Clawson's son, Conway City Attorney Chuck Clawson, recused from the investigation of deputies' conduct during Martin's arrest.
Contacted Wednesday, Tatum said he did not know why Short wanted the case moved. Tatum mentioned the younger Clawson's recusal, saying, "I'm in this case because Judge Clawson's son had a conflict."
Still, Tatum said he told Short that it did not matter to him which judge heard the case. "As long as the judge is comfortable, I am," Tatum said.
Besides, in circuit court, "The jury is the one going to be making the determination, not the judge," Tatum said.
In district court, Special Judge Mark Derrick presided over Watlington's trial without a jury after Faulkner County's two district judges, David Reynolds and Susan Weaver, recused.
A pretrial hearing on Watlington's appeal is scheduled for 1 p.m. May 22.
In January 2016, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that a federal grand jury was investigating the arrests of Martin and another man, Christopher Cummings. The FBI, the U.S. attorney's office and the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division were conducting a civil-rights color-of-law investigation aimed at determining whether deputies used excessive force. No other deputies have been charged with a crime over the arrests.
Martin drove the car in the high-speed chase as Cummings fired shots at officers' cars. Authorities later learned that Martin was fleeing because Cummings was threatening him at gunpoint.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris declined comment last week on whether the federal investigation was still underway.
David Hogue, Faulkner County's attorney, said the FBI has repeatedly indicated the federal investigation was ongoing but has not requested any additional information recently.
State Desk on 04/13/2017