A court should not let the defense introduce pictures showing white-supremacist tattoos on one or both of the people slain in a Russellville salvage yard, the prosecution argued Tuesday.
The motion to exclude the pictures came in the Pope County Circuit Court case of Tyler Barefield, 36. He is charged with capital murder in the Sept. 16, 2016, deaths of Beau Dewitt, 22, and Aaron Brock, 22, both of Dardanelle.
Investigators say Barefield shot the men at his business, U-Pull-It Auto Parts, where authorities say the two had gone to steal car parts.
In the newly filed motion, Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons said the state Crime Laboratory and the Pope County sheriff's office documented the victims' bodies pulled from crushed vehicles and took numerous photographs of the bodies.
"A limited number of the photographs depict tattoo symbols that are commonly associated with white supremacist organizations," Gibbons wrote.
The motion did not specify whether the tattoos were present in pictures of one or both bodies.
To the prosecution's knowledge, Gibbons said, "the tattoos are not relevant to the manner or cause of the deaths of either victim and any such references to such symbols would be far more prejudicial than probative under" the Arkansas Rules of Evidence.
Gibbons said pictures showing the manner in which the victims were shot, died and crushed can be presented without viewing any of the tattoos.
"The state requests the defense be prohibited from using the photographs at trial or mentioning the offensive tattoos during voir dire [the questioning of prospective jurors], opening statement or during the trial," Gibbons said.
Barefield's attorney, Patrick Benca, said Tuesday that the defense would file a response to Gibbons' motion.
The defense argued previously that the court should prohibit the prosecution from presenting jurors with any evidence concerning pictures of the deceased, at the crime scene or in an autopsy that showed blood or wounds.
Such pictures "would only serve to inflame the jury and can resolve no disputed factual issue in this cause," the defense has said.
The prosecution has countered in the past that Arkansas law holds that pictures are admissible "because their probative value is not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice."
Barefield's trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 23 before Judge William Pearson in Russellville. Barefield is free on $850,000 bail. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Monday, but it's not known whether the judge will rule on the photographs then.
Under Arkansas law, capital murder is punishable by death or by life in prison without parole.
State Desk on 08/02/2017