Today opens the third day of testimony in a civil lawsuit filed by the sister of a man shot to death in 2016 by a Little Rock police officer.
Vanessa Cole of Little Rock is seeking unspecified damages from officer Dennis Hutchins, who shot and killed 46-year-old Roy Lee Richards Jr. in front of his uncle's apartment near downtown within a few moments of arriving on the scene after 911 callers reported Richards and his uncle fighting.
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.
Shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 25, 2016, Hutchins, accompanied by follow officer Justin Tyer, arrived at Derrell Underwood's 514 E. 8th St. apartment after callers reported Underwood and Richards 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 alleges that Hutchins, by using excessive force, 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.
The lawsuit cites numerous general orders and department policies related to use of force, deployment of special weapons, reporting requirements and others claiming that Hutchins did not warn Richards that he was in danger of being shot and deployed his rifle without authorization. The lawsuit also faults the department itself, claiming that internal investigations conducted by the department into its own officer-involvedshootings has resulted in less-than-thorough investigations.
In testimony Tuesday by Underwood and several neighbors, details differed on how serious the fight was between the two, how Richards was holding the gun and where Underwood was when the shooting occurred, but all agreed that the first sound heard from police were the five shots from Hutchins' rifle that killed Richards.
All but one neighbor testified that when Richards was shot, the air rifle he was carrying was pointed at the ground.
Charles James, who live across the street from Underwood, said Richards was walking up the steps toward the porch of the apartment holding the air rifle "like a soldier, pointing up at 10 o'clock," when he was shot.
According to the lawsuit, Hutchins told investigators Richards was pointing the rifle at Underwood's back as the older man ran up the steps, but in testimony Wednesday, Tyer said he only saw Richards coming around his SUV holding the rifle at his side with one hand, perpendicular to his body.
Underwood testified Tuesday that he was inside his apartment when Richards was shot and said at first he thought Richards had shot himself.
Neighbor Bibi Mwamba said Tuesday that she had gone to bed and her husband alerted her when he heard fighting coming from the front of their apartment next door to Underwood.
She testified that although she didn't see the two men fighting, she did see Richards take something from the back of his vehicle, although she didn't know what it was. She said she pulled her husband inside the apartment a few moments before hearing the gunshots.
Testimony from the plaintiff's witnesses continues today.