{"id":22893,"date":"2021-08-08T14:34:51","date_gmt":"2021-08-08T19:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arknews.org\/?p=22893"},"modified":"2021-08-19T00:16:35","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T05:16:35","slug":"little-rock-officer-headed-to-civil-trial-in-fatal-2016-shooting-of-roy-richards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arknews.org\/index.php\/2021\/08\/08\/little-rock-officer-headed-to-civil-trial-in-fatal-2016-shooting-of-roy-richards\/","title":{"rendered":"He had a BB gun. A cop had a semiautomatic rifle. Without warning, the officer fired five times."},"content":{"rendered":"

Update, Aug. 19, 2021: On Monday, the jury in Officer Dennis Hutchins' civil trial delivered a verdict in favor of Hutchins.<\/a><\/p>\n

Vanessa Cole remembers her older brother Roy Lee Richards Jr. as the storyteller of their tight-knit Central Arkansas family. When they got together for family dinners on the weekends, Roy entertained Nae \u2014 his nickname for Cole \u2014 her children, and his sons with old family yarns. When their mother passed away in 2002, Richards started calling Cole every day, telling her stories from their childhood that Cole hadn\u2019t heard before, mimicking family members\u2019 voices, making her feel like she was right there with them. \u201cThat was one of the gifts God had given him,\u201d Cole said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly five years ago, Richards, who was Black, was shot and killed by Little Rock police officer Dennis Hutchins, who is white, on the steps of Richards\u2019 uncle\u2019s home. Hutchins and another officer were responding to a series of 911 calls about a fight between an intoxicated Richards and his uncle, Derrell Underwood, in the early morning hours of October 25, 2016. Without either officer announcing their presence, Hutchins fired five shots at Richards with his secondary patrol weapon, an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle, striking him twice. Richards appeared to be holding a long gun at the time; it turned out to be a BB gun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don't know any officer that comes to your house that their sirens is not on, or their lights is not flashing,\u201d Underwood said in a recent interview. \u201cThey basically snuck up on us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Roy Richards (Image courtesy Vanessa Cole)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prosecutors declined to pursue charges against Hutchins, and an internal investigation by the Little Rock Police Department cleared him of wrongdoing. He remains on the force today. But he heads to a jury trial this week in a civil case filed by Cole on behalf of Richards\u2019 estate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many lawsuits alleging excessive force against law enforcement officers are either settled or thrown out of court. It\u2019s <\/span>notoriously difficult<\/span><\/a> to sue a police officer because of a U.S. Supreme Court doctrine called qualified immunity, which can protect government officials from being held personally liable for constitutional violations if a court determines their actions didn\u2019t violate \u201cclearly established\u201d law. Hutchins\u2019 motion for summary judgment on the basis of\u00a0 qualified immunity was rejected, however, first by a U.S. District Court judge in Little Rock and later by a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The appellate court ruling concluded that \u201cOfficer Hutchins\u2019 use of deadly force against Richards was objectively unreasonable\u201d \u2014 assuming the details of the shooting occurred in the way that Richards\u2019 family claims. However, the court noted, if the jury determines that certain key facts occurred differently, the legal conclusions may be different. It will now be up to the jury to determine what actually happened that night.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first time an Arkansas officer has faced trial in a fatal police shooting since the nationwide protests last summer over the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. It\u2019s a significant moment for the Little Rock Police Department, which has been <\/span>mired in controversy<\/span><\/a> over allegations of misconduct, excessive violence and poor internal investigations.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Richards\u2019 family, it\u2019s a chance at feeling at least a partial sense of closure after several long, harrowing years. Cole is represented by Chicago attorney Mike Laux, who has sued the LRPD many times in the past several years, including claims on behalf of the families of five people shot by police, and by the Little Rock firm Dodds, Kidd, Ryan, and Rowan. Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter, the lead attorney representing Hutchins, did not respond to requests to be interviewed for this story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Richards, who was 46 years old when he was killed, left behind two sons, now 17 and 19, and his father, who is in his 70s. The family has not been the same since his death.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI taught him how to ride his bike,\u201d Underwood said. \u201cHe was just like my little brother. He was closer to a little brother than he was a nephew.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cole said she\u2019s seeking compensation for the sake of Richards\u2019 sons, as well as her father. \u201cMy dad is just in a whole mess now,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that justice is served,\u201d she said. \u201cI really hope that it is, that we can finally go forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
The house on East 8th Street today; Richards was shot on the steps of the home (Credit: Brian Chilson)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t hurt him\u2019<\/span><\/h2>\n

Shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 25, 2016, five people called 911 to report a disturbance outside of 514 East 8th Street* in Little Rock, the home of Richards\u2019 uncle Derrell Underwood. One of them was Underwood himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got a person in my yard. He\u2019s drunk, and he\u2019s my nephew, and I\u2019m trying to tell him to leave my house,\u201d Underwood says in the recording. \u201cBut don\u2019t hurt him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another caller told emergency dispatch that Richards had a long gun. Underwood would later say in a deposition that Richards had come to his home twice that night, first around 11 p.m. and later a little after 12:30 a.m. Both times he was drunk, and both times Underwood asked him to leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first time, Richards left. The second time, he pulled the butt of what appeared to be a long gun out of the trunk of his car.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hutchins and another officer, Juston Tyer, responded to the emergency calls. Hutchins, a Marine veteran who had been trained to use a high-powered rifle in the military and as part of the LRPD\u2019s SWAT team, had been on the force for 15 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Underwood and Richards were in a fight by that point, according to witnesses, shoving each other in front of Richards\u2019 car. Underwood said that as he had Richards pinned to the ground, a neighbor told him the police were there \u2014 but he never saw the officers himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hutchins and Tyer parked their police cars around the corner and walked towards Underwood\u2019s house. The department released <\/span>Tyers\u2019 dashcam video and audio from a recorder worn by one of the officers<\/span><\/a> in September 2017, nearly a year after the shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the dashcam video, Hutchins appears to raise and cock his gun \u2014 his secondary patrol weapon, a Bushmaster .223 caliber semiautomatic rifle \u2014 before turning the corner and disappearing out of the camera\u2019s sight. The police remained silent as they approached the scene.<\/span><\/p>\n