A judge has dismissed the second-degree murder case against Aaron Spencer, ruling that missing dash-camera evidence and the way law enforcement handled it had damaged his ability to defend himself. The decision wipes out, for now, the prosecution of the Lonoke County sheriff candidate who had been headed for a jury trial on June 22.
Judge Ralph Wilson said the loss of the internal SD memory card from the dash camera in Spencer's truck had “adversely impaired” his ability to defend himself and had harmed his right to a fair trial. In his order, Wilson wrote that law enforcement conduct was so egregious that dismissal was warranted. Spencer had pleaded not guilty and said he acted to protect his child.
Prosecutors had charged Spencer after the October 2024 fatal shooting of 67-year-old Michael Fosler, alleging Spencer confronted Fosler after finding him with his teenage daughter. Court records and prior reporting show Fosler had been facing multiple sexual offense charges involving Spencer's then-13-year-old daughter and was out on bond when the shooting happened. Spencer's lawyers had argued the case was justified under Arkansas law as self-defense and defense of others, making the missing video central to their claim that the shooting could not be judged fairly without it.
The defense said the dash camera inside Spencer's truck may have captured the confrontation that led to Fosler's death, but the SD card containing that video went missing with no clear documentation showing when it disappeared, where it disappeared, who last had it or what efforts were made to find it. They also argued the camera's existence and the loss of the card were not disclosed for months. That dispute turned the case from a straightforward homicide prosecution into a fight over whether the state's handling of evidence had made a fair trial impossible.
The dismissal ends a case that had already been delayed multiple times over pretrial proceedings and evidence rulings, and it comes after the prosecution drew statewide and national attention. It is not clear whether prosecutors will appeal or try to refile the case. The ruling also leaves unanswered what effect, if any, the dismissal will have on Spencer's candidacy and the general election ahead.
