5 days ago
Arkansas Supreme Court orders gag order lifted in Lonoke County deadly shooting
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Thursday ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court is expected to lead to a gag order being lifted in a deadly Lonoke County shooting.
The case came to the court on behalf of Aaron Spencer, who is facing charges of second-degree murder in the October 2024 shooting death of 67-year-old Michael Fosler.
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According to court records, Fosler had been charged in July 2024 with 'numerous sexual offenses against Spencer's teenage daughter, and he was released on bond.'
On the night of the shooting, Spencer realized his daughter had left the house and went looking for her. He found Fosler's truck with his daughter inside and forced it off the road.
'After an altercation, Spencer called 911 to report he had shot Fosler. Fosler died at the scene,' court records state.
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The record continues that the state requested a gag order on the case on Dec. 4, 2024, due to what it called extensive media coverage, including a news release from Spencer's attorneys that described him as a 'heroic father.' The state argued that the coverage and public statements would lead the community to side with Spencer, thereby harming the integrity of the jury pool.
On Dec. 9, 2024, Spencer's attorney filed an opposition to the gag order. On Dec. 10, the court put the gag order in place 'without holding a hearing,' according to the filing.
Spencer then requested the Supreme Court issue a command, called a 'writ of certiorari,' to the lower court to lift the gag order. His request cited the First Amendment and the Lonoke circuit court exceeded its jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court honored that request on Thursday, and the writ was issued. In its ruling, the court stated: '[W]e hold that the circuit court's action in entering the challenged gag order was on its face a plain, manifest, clear, and gross abuse of discretion and in excess of its authority. Further, there is no other adequate remedy except for a writ of certiorari.'
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The ruling also cautioned the court against sealing the case's proceedings from the public, citing it as a constitutional violation.
Spencer's attorneys, Erin Cassinelli and Michael Kaiser, said in a statement that the Supreme Court's decision has far-reaching implications.
'The Court has given clear guidelines for gag orders that will help the public, litigants, and courts across the state appropriately assess case-related speech as balanced with the strong First Amendment protections that are a bedrock of our society,' they stated. 'No longer will state courts be permitted to allow a prosecutor to release alarming and potentially misleading information while a circuit court blanketly restricts a citizen's public explanation of his innocence.'
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They continued that they appreciated the Supreme Court's 'turning the lights back on in Lonoke County.'
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