The trial for Tristen Waller, an El Dorado man arrested in 2019 along with co-defendant Chancin Hooks and charged with the shooting death of 27-year-old Brandon Parker, is currently set for May 31.
Judge Grisham Phillips was recently assigned to the case and trial after a recusal order issued by Judge Robin Carroll was followed with recusals by the other five 13th Judicial District Judges earlier this month.
Numerous defense motions and State subpoenas were submitted to court records late last week as the trial date approaches, including two defense motions to dismiss the case and a formal notice communicating an intention to argue that Waller acted in self-defense.
A series of defense motions were entered from May 16 to May 19, according to court records.
The first is a motion submitted by lead defense attorney Sylvester Smith to dismiss the case citing a "Brady violation." This term references the 1963 case Brady v. Maryland and the "Brady Rule," which requires "prosecutors to disclose materially exculpatory evidence in the government's possession to the defense," according to Cornell University.
The motion, submitted on May 16, alleges that a white 2003 Ford Taurus – the vehicle Parker was in when shot – was not properly "preserved" by the prosecution.
The motion contends that the vehicle was a "mobile crime scene," with "several" bullet holes and, after being impounded and examined by the Union County Sheriff's Office, was released to Parker's family.
The motion goes on to allege the vehicle was "immediately destroyed upon being released to the family."
Smith argues in the motion that the defense should have been given time to examine the vehicle for reasons including "to determine if the condition of the vehicle supports Mr. Waller's contention that the Decedent and those in his vehicle fired the first shots."
The motion concludes by asking for dismissal of the charges against Waller – capital murder and attempted murder -- based on the arguments.
The next motion, filed on May 17, is a formal notice which informs the prosecution of Waller's intention to "raise the defense that the acts allegedly attributed to him" were done in self-defense and "are justified."
A motion to suppress evidence was also filed by the defense on May 17.
This motion alleges that the prosecution has jail phone and video call recordings of Waller as well as co-defendant Chancin Hooks and the second victim in the case, Randy Lamar Miller, that have not been provided to the defense. Miller is facing charges connected to the case including tampering with physical evidence, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, hindering apprehension or prosecution, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by certain persons.
The motion states that these alleged recordings "likely" contain material helpful to the defense's case.
A discovery motion from January 2022 seeking copies of these alleged recordings is cited in the motion. Smith goes on to argue that "the lion's share" of recordings of Hooks and Waller have not been provided and that no recordings of Miller have been provided.
The motion goes on to argue that the prosecution should be prevented from using these recordings as evidence in the trial because "14 days before the trial, it would be impossible for Mr. Waller to review this massive amount of material." An estimate of "hundreds of calls" constituting "thousands of minutes" is provided.
A second motion to dismiss cites speedy trial violations. This motion includes calculations of Waller's time since June 6, 2019 in the Union County Jail including the many excluded periods, which are periods of time not tolled towards a speedy trial calculation.
The motion subtracts "approximately" 183 days that were under continuance orders "due to requests for [Waller]" and 135 days due to Arkansas Supreme Court COVID-19 regulations.
This leaves, according to defense calculations, 757 days that Waller has been incarcerated. The motion also cites six continuance orders that include the name of Waller's former attorney that "do not include her signature" and were allegedly filed after Waller terminated that attorney's services and ten continuance orders not signed by Smith at Waller's direction. The motion argues these cited continuance orders should "not constitute excluded periods." This motion cites Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 28.1b, which states that charges should be dropped against defendants not brought to trial within a cumulative 12 months and concludes by arguing that charges should be dismissed.
Responses from the State or the court to the motions for dismissal or the motion to suppress evidence were not available in court records by press time Monday.
The 13th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney's Office also reissued a series of witness subpoenas starting on May 11.
Subpoenas were originally issued and later withdrawn in January. At the time, the trial was set to begin in early February.
The subpoenas include UCSO investigators, ProMed personnel, and Hooks and Miller.