CONWAY -- Text messages purportedly exchanged between two teenagers charged in a Conway couple's shooting deaths last year likely will be the main topic when a juvenile-transfer hearing resumes for Hunter Drexler next month.
Drexler, 19, of Clinton is charged with two counts of capital murder and other offenses in the July 2015 deaths of Robert and Patricia Cogdell, both 66. Drexler is charged as an adult, but defense attorney Patrick Benca is trying to get the case transferred to juvenile court, where Drexler would likely face a less-severe penalty if convicted.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Hugh Finkelstein wants to introduce as evidence text messages that he says Drexler exchanged with Justin Staton, 16. Staton, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, lived with the Cogdells, who had been his legal guardians since 2010.
During the first part of Drexler's transfer hearing in October in Faulkner County Circuit Court, Benca objected to introducing the text messages that were found on Staton's iPod. Judge Troy Braswell suspended the hearing to give Benca time to retain or consult with an expert in data recovery from electronic devices.
[DOCUMENT: Read the motion to produce records]
Benca said Monday that he might not call such a witness but said "that will not prevent our challenge" to the texts.
Braswell has not ruled on whether the messages are admissible.
Braswell allotted one day for the hearing in January. Benca has presented the defense case already, and Finkelstein said he had just three more witnesses to call: Brian Williams, who handles forensic evidence on devices such as cellphones and iPods for the Conway Police Department; Virginia Kulpanowski of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission; and Alexis Mitchell, Staton's sister.
Finkelstein said after court Wednesday that Kulpanowski and Mitchell would testify about the chain of custody of Staton's iPod.
Mitchell has testified previously that Staton gave her the iPod after the Cogdells were killed July 21, 2015, and that she put it in a drawer. Staton's public defender, Gina Reynolds, has said Staton's defense team got the device from their client's relatives July 28, 2015. Reynolds said the iPod was stored in a locked filing cabinet until the defense was ordered to give the device to investigators.
Defense attorney Bill James, who is not associated with the Drexler case, said Wednesday that even if the judge allows the text messages into evidence at the transfer hearing, that does not automatically mean the judge will allow them into the trial. Some evidence that is relevant to whether a person should be tried as a juvenile or an adult is not necessarily relevant to that person's trial, James said.
Benca also noted in court that two defense motions filed in November remain pending. Braswell said he would rule on them soon. One is sealed. The other motion asks Braswell for a copy of "all communication made between the Court and any press regarding anything about the Defendant."
"This would include emails, facsimile, text messages, or voice mails regarding the Defendant's matter," the motion added.
The motion specifically includes the email or fax that the court said it sent to the news media of an order making the October transfer hearing closed to the public. The next day, after the hearing started, Braswell opened it at the defense's request.
The defense motion also asked that the court order all "context" messages entered by the court's staff regarding Drexler. "Context" messages refer to notes that a court system allows those with access to a case to enter on specific cases, according to Benca. Those with access include court personnel, probation officers and others.
The defense also requested an order for all transcripts of hearings involving Drexler in juvenile court and juvenile drug court.
Two other teenagers also were charged in the case. Connor Atchley, 18, of Greenbrier has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other offenses. Anastasia Roberts, 18, of Conway, is awaiting trial.
State Desk on 12/15/2016