Episode
Evidence Keeps Vanishing in Lonoke County — Is Aaron Spencer’s Case Just the Latest?
- Published
- Jun 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1444
- Processing state
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- https://audioboom.com/posts/8914505
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Summary
One county. One department. Over a decade. And every time the evidence matters most, it’s not there. The Aaron Spencer case ended with a judge writing “appearance of a coverup” in a signed court order. But the pattern in Lonoke County predates Spencer by years. In 2021, Deputy Michael Davis shot and killed seventeen-year-old Hunter Brittain during a traffic stop. Brittain was unarmed. The body camera wasn’t activated until after the shooting. Sheriff Staley fired the deputy for violating camera policy. The department had no dashcams in patrol vehicles. In 2024, a federal lawsuit exposed conditions inside the Lonoke County jail. Staff were accused of harming a detainee. When she reported it, deputies allegedly retaliated — broadcasting her situation over the facility intercom and isolating her. Video evidence was withheld from federal civil rights discovery. The Spencer case followed the same pattern. A dashcam SD card from the night of the shooting — the only device that could have captured what happened — was pulled, viewed on a personal computer, stored in an office drawer, and lost. Judge Wilson found bad faith, catalogued eleven failures, and dismissed the murder charge. Now the aftermath is playing out in real time. Detective McCain was fired. Staley issued a statement accepting responsibility. Prosecutor Graham, who fought dismissal, has gone quiet. The AG’s office could appeal — but their own forensics unit received the camera, and the card was already gone. What makes this bigger than one case is the question it forces. Is this incompetence or something deliberate? And if it’s institutional, who’s going to hold the institution accountable? An outside legal analyst breaks down the pattern, identifies who faces exposure, and maps what to watch for in the weeks ah…