Civil trial of LR police officer sued over fatal shooting nearing conclusion.

Hutchins testifies about events surrounding shooting of man outside apartment

The civil trial of a Little Rock police officer being sued by the sister of a man he shot to death while answering a domestic disturbance call in 2016 is expected to wrap up today after defense testimony and closing statements.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 25, 2016, Little Rock officer Dennis Hutchins, accompanied by follow officer Justin Tyer, arrived at Derrell Underwood’s 514 E. Eighth St. apartment after callers reported Underwood and and another man, identified later as Underwood’s nephew Roy Richards Jr., fighting in the front yard and that Richards was armed.

As Hutchins and Tyer approached the apartment on foot, Hutchins fired five shots from a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle from 25 yards away, hitting Richards twice and killing him instantly. The weapon Richards was carrying that night turned out to be an air rifle.

Richards’ sister, Vanessa Cole, is seeking unspecified damages from Hutchins, alleging that he used excessive force and doing so, violated Richards’ constitutional protections of equal protection and against unreasonable search and seizure. Originally, the lawsuit also named former Police Chief Kenton Buckner and the city as defendants along with Hutchins, but both were dropped from the lawsuit, leaving Hutchins as the sole defendant.

Cole is represented by Mike Laux of Chicago and by Judson Kidd and Lucas Rowan of Dodds, Kidd & Ryan in Little Rock.

Hutchins is represented by City Attorney Tom Carpenter and by Chief Deputy City Attorney Alex Betton.

On Thursday, jurors heard from Hutchins, who gave his account of the events that transpired within moments of his and Tyer’s arrival.

Just before Hutchins took the stand, Kidd asked Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. if Cole could be excused while Hutchins was on the stand due to the nature of the officer’s testimony and of crime scene photos the jury was to see.

“If that’s what she prefers,” Marshall said.

“Yes,” Kidd said. “She would rather not hear his testimony.”

“That’s OK but in the future let’s have this conversation outside of the jury’s presence,” Marshall admonished him.

Hutchins said he saw Richards chasing Underwood up the steps of Underwood’s apartment and shot him out of fear that Richards was about to shoot Underwood.

Laux and Hutchins clashed repeatedly over the officer’s testimony, prompting several bench conferences with Marshall to discuss various lines of questioning.

Laux repeatedly challenged Hutchins’ assertions that he had no time to warn Richards before he pulled the trigger after Hutchins said by the time he told Tyer they were fighting that the fight subsided.

“You had time to announce yourself or to give orders to stop fighting at that time, didn’t you?” Laux asked. “No,” Hutchins said. “You sure?” Laux asked. “I see them fighting, I turned to Tyer and said they’re fist fighting,” Hutchins began.

“Are you sure?” Laux asked again.

“And when I turn back, am I supposed to tell them to stop fighting when they’re no longer fighting?

It was at that moment, Hutchins said, that Richards walked back to his SUV to the driver’s side, which was opposite where he and Tyer were standing so that the two officers lost sight of him briefly. When he walked back into their view, Richards was holding the air rifle.

“Wouldn’t it be a prudent practice as an officer to do or say something to intercede before he gets to that car and gets his hands on something that you might not know what it is?” asked Laux.

“At the time it was de-escalating,” Hutchins said. “That’s the choice I made to let it de-escalate instead of start yelling and escalate it back.”

Hutchins explained that when Richards walked back to his SUV, he thought the man was about to leave.

“If that’s what you were thinking,” Laux said, “you were quite wrong, weren’t you?”

“It turned out I was quite wrong, yes,” Hutchins said.

“You were OK with him going to his car where you couldn’t see his hands and you couldn’t see him rummaging around, right?” Laux asked.

“I was OK with him leaving at that point,” Hutchins replied.

When Richards walked back into sight carrying the air rifle, Hutchins said, events began happening very quickly. He tried to describe the few seconds that elapsed from the time he saw Richards with the gun until a few seconds later when he shot him.

“That’s just a tough question,” he said. “It really is because he comes out and you’ve got no time to react. He’s already got a gun pointed at this guy.”

After Laux’s direct examination, Betton said he would wait to question Hutchins until he is called by the defense, which is expected to happen today.

Richards’ father, Roy Richards Sr., testified under questioning by Kidd that he and the younger Richards had been close. He said the two worked together trimming trees and that they had often hunted or fished together.

“Did you teach him how to fish from the time he was a youngster?” Kidd asked.

“Yeah,” Richards said, laughing softly at the memory.

“Could he outfish you?” asked Kidd.

“Oh yeah,” Richards said. “He used to catch more than I did all the time.”

“Do you still miss your son?” Kidd asked, softly.

“Yes sir,” Richards replied. “Every day.”