Jury rules on 2016 LR shooting facts

A jury of six women and two men ruled Friday on six disputed facts at the heart of the civil trial of a Little Rock police officer over the 2016 shooting death of a man involved in a domestic dispute.

The jury ruled that it was not feasible for Little Rock police officer Dennis Hutchins to warn Roy Richards Jr. before firing.

It also ruled on Richards’ movements — which were subject to conflicting witness statements — just before the fatal shooting.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 25, 2016, Hutchins, accompanied by fellow officer Justin Tyer, arrived at Derrell Underwood’s 514 E. Eighth St. apartment in Little Rock after callers reported Underwood and another man, later identified as Richards, who was Underwood’s nephew, were 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.

The lawsuit, filed by Richards’ sister, Vanessa Cole, alleges that Hutchins violated Richards’ constitutional rights of equal protection and against unreasonable search and seizure because the Little Rock officer employed excessive force.

Originally, the lawsuit named former Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner and the city as defendants along with Hutchins, but in February 2019, former U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes tossed out the claims against Buckner and the city, leaving Hutchins as the sole defendant.

After Holmes retired from the bench, the case was transferred to Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall.

Holmes also ruled that Hutchins was not entitled to qualified immunity on Cole’s claims for wrongful death and that the trial against him could proceed.

Holmes also said a jury would have to resolve factual disputes arising from differing witness accounts about whether Richards’ uncle was inside or outside of the house when Richards was shot.

Holmes said there were also conflicting reports about how Richards was holding the gun after retrieving it from his car. He said some reported that he held it vertically and didn’t point it.

In addition to ruling that Hutchins couldn’t have warned Richards, the jury ruled that Richards was pointing the gun toward Underwood’s home, that he was in the yard facing the house walking toward it and that Underwood had gone inside less than three seconds before Hutchins opened fire.

The jury will return Monday morning at 10 a.m. to decide the question of whether Hutchins used excessive force.