BENTONVILLE -- A settlement was reached in the wrongful death lawsuit concerning a man who was found dead in a hot tub.
Attorneys filed a motion July 6 requesting the case be dismissed because a settlement had been reached. Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren signed an order two days later dismissing the case.
Kristine Homan filed the wrongful death lawsuit against James Bates. He was accused of killing Victor Collins, Homan's husband.
Shane Wilkinson, Homan's attorney, declined to disclose the settlement amount.
Bates was charged but never tried in Collins' death. Prosecutors dismissed Bates' case.
Bates reported at 9 a.m. Nov. 22, 2015, to Bentonville police he found Collins floating face-down in his hot tub, according to court documents. Homan's lawsuit claimed Bates admitted he left Collins in his hot tub, went to sleep in a bedroom and found Collins the next morning.
The lawsuit claimed Bates was responsible for Collins' death.
Bates was charged with first-degree murder and tampering. Prosecutors dropped the charges in November 2017. Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith noted new information from Bates' attorney, adding that Arkansas law requires evidence be consistent with the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with any other reasonable explanation.
Police and medics were called to Bates' home and found Collins, who appeared to have a black eye, dead in the hot tub, according to the affidavit.
Bates described his arrest in a federal lawsuit as a malicious prosecution. He filed the lawsuit against Bentonville police officers and Charles Kokes, a medical examiner. Bates later withdrew the lawsuit.