Need an accident report? Arkansas Court of Appeals rules you can take a photo of it or copy it with your own equipment for free

Attorney Ben Motal - LRPD and the City of Little Rock violated his rights under the AFOIA

Russ Racop - November 22, 2020

Back in May, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled that an individual can inspect and take photos of accident reports or scan them with their own equipment all free of charge.

That ruling was in an appeal of a case filed by Little Rock Attorney Ben Motal, who had attempted to take a photo of an accident report at LRPD headquarters using his cellphone in October 2018.

LRPD stopped Motal from exercising his rights under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Motal subsequently filed a complaint in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Mackie Pierce held a hearing and upheld the decision of LRPD/CLR.

Motal appealed Judge Pierce's decision and the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled that Motal's rights had been violated and reversed the decision of the lower court.

Motal v Little Rock Appeal Decision by Russ Racop on Scribd

LRPD and the city were poorly represented by deputy city attorneys Caleb Garcia and Drew Middlebrooks according to the Opinion filed by Judge Kenneth Hixson.

Not so sharp Little Rock city attorneys Caleb Garcia and Drew Middlebrooks

Obviously, these two were not the top of their class and ended up taking steady public employment instead of going out on their own when no law firm made them offers.

The city has lost several similar lawsuits that we filed over FOI violations and will surely lose the ones we filed this year that are pending in Pulaski County Circuit Courts.

While the feckless mayor and the corrupt police chief claim transparency, no previous administration has had some many lawsuits filed against them for transparency/open records violations.

Arkansas Department of Corrections Major Ivory McDaniel Arrested on Multiple Felony Charges

Mugshot of ADC Major Ivory McDaniel According to booking records, Ivory Truall McDaniel was arrested early this morning by Little Rock cops after he beat 23 year old year Joshua Bess with a pair of brass knuckles (an illegal weapon in Arkansas) and stole the cellphone of a 26 year old Tamisha Patton out of her hand while she was calling the police to report the attack on Bess. McDaniel fled the scene at the Arbors of Pleasant Valley apartment complex on Hinson Loop Road and was apprehended by LRPD cops at another apartment complex on Green Mountain Drive. McDaniel faces three Class D felony charges and one misdemeanor charge. McDaniel is a Major with the Arkansas Department of Correction at the Varner Unit located south of Pine Bluff. We reached out to the Department of Corrections for comments, but they had not responded to our request at the time of publication. McDaniel appeared before Little Rock District Court Judge Jill Stewart Camps at 9:00AM today and pleaded not gui...

ASP Trooper texts and stalks a 14 year old that was near same age as his own daughter, while having an affair with her married sister.

Was ASP Trooper Billy Martin trying to pull all 3 sisters? In January 2019, Callie Hinson and Joseph Ramer began dating. On June 13, 2020, Joseph proposed to Callie. They were married on February 21, 2021. By the time of their first anniversary, their marriage was in shambles and Callie was estranged from her family all due to this man, Arkansas State Police Trooper Billy Mitchell Martin. Martin joined the ASP as a recruit in January of 2007. Records from his personnel file indicate he was from Boone County and he was posted there after graduating troop school. Martin was promoted to Trooper First Class in July 2011 and Corporal in July 2014. In late 2019 and early 2020, Martin tried to get transferred to a Criminal Investigation position in Boone County but was unsuccessful. Around that same time, Martin filed for divorce from his wife of 10 years. The Divorce was finalized in March 2020. Martin hit the single scene hard and had no trouble hooking up with bad...

ASP Trooper Lincoln Smith fired for admitted criminal activity

The Arkansas State Police has confirmed that Trooper Lincoln Smith from Troop E (based in Pine Bluff) was fired on April 11th for illegal conduct. False reports of his arrest went viral on social media. As the ASP criminal investigation is on-going, they will not release any further details of his criminal actions. As the termination letter states, Smith admitted to criminal conduct and was immediately fired. Smith was hired by the ASP on October 2023. Smith was employed by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as a Game Warden prior to his hiring by the ASP. Records obtained from CLEST do not indicate that the ASP requested decertification. Jacksonville 911 was contacted about Smith and they advised he last worked for them in 2022. At the time of publication, Smith's Facebook page is still open and up. Stay tuned for updates.

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