Skip to main content

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.

 

Popular posts from this blog

Bryant High School teacher accused of sexual misconduct with a student

The Bryant Police Department confirms an on-going investigation of a now former Bryant teacher, Heather Danielle (Hall) Hare. Hare (age 32) has been accused of sexual contact with a student.  Hare was featured on ABC Good Morning America in May 2020 when a course she taught was discontinued during the pandemic. At this point no details of the alleged illegal conduct have been released. Earlier today the school district posted this on a Bryant Schools Facebook page. According to on-line school board records, Hare submitted her resignation effective April 1, 2023.     Hare is married and is a resident of Conway, AR. KATV featured the Hare family in another story on October 31, 2022. Stay tuned for updates. KTHV featured Hare's daughter in several newscasts . ### ***UPDATE 04/06/23*** Bryant PD provided us with their initial report dated March 31, 2023. ***UPDATE 04/07/23*** Sources report that the Bryant High School football player involved in an "entanglement"

Disgraced ex-LRPD cop and felon lied on her employment application to get job with Arkansas State Police

In 2009, Sheva Howard was a Little Rock cop. She began working at LRPD in 2001 as a Crime Scene Specialist and in 2003 she became a police officer. Howard also worked off-duty, in her LRPD uniform, at Dillard's until she was caught in an act of thievery.  Howard purchased one purse, but it was in a bag so heavy she had to drag it on the ground. That bag was later found to have multiple purses packed into another purse. That incident also ended her career as a cop and gained her a felony conviction.   The LRPD Internal Investigation file reads like a script from an episode of Law & Order.   Howard was found to be untruthful during the internal investigation.   Here's what the local newspaper published about her criminal trial. Howard's supervisor at Dillard's was Willie Robinson. It just so happened that Robinson was and is also an Arkansas State Trooper.   Howard tried to have her conviction overturned but the Arkansas Court of Appeals upheld her conviction.   After

Three LRPD cops "relieved of duty" over incident at Club Trois

Sources at LRPD have confirmed a tip we received that three LRPD cops, Brad Stewart, Lee Pitts and Justin Sims have been "relieved of duty" in connection with an incident at Club Trois. The story we were told is that Stewart was working off-duty at Club Trois and dealt with an inebriated female club patron by soaking her with pepper spray.  LRPD General Order  ("G.O.") 303 requires that a cop that uses physical force, non-lethal control and compliance devices, on or off-duty, follow certain procedures. Use of pepper spray is a Level 4 event. Here are the specific procedures. LRPD sources tell us that they are trained to call MEMS after they use pepper spray or a taser on an individual. They are to file an incident report and they file an officer's report or letter form (5600-2) with their immediate supervisor for each use of force incident. Here's an example of an officer letter form.   Not a single procedure was followed in this incident. And to make matter