CLARKSVILLE -- A former Johnson County deputy faces decertification just as sentencing looms for a manslaughter suspect whose defense received exculpatory materials relating to the former deputy's "character and conduct."
Allegations regarding former Johnson County Sheriff's Office deputy Joshua Heidelberg of Ozark came to the Johnson County Circuit Court's attention via a divorce case in Sebastian County Circuit Court, according to court documents.
The Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division has an open investigation related to the ongoing custody battle in Sebastian County between Heidelberg and his ex-wife, court records show. That case originated in April 2015, according to court files.
Actions in the custody dispute prompted Johnson County prosecutors to file Brady materials in the case of Kyle N. Holman of Lamar, who is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 12 for negligent homicide in the May 13, 2023, death of Jacqueline Smith in Clarksville, court records show.
Holman originally was charged with the more serious offense of manslaughter in the case that involved Heidelberg as the lead investigator, according to court records.
Meanwhile, Johnson County Sheriff Tom Hughes is pursuing decertification for Heidelberg, which would mean he could no longer serve in law enforcement in Arkansas.
The Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training last week voted to proceed to a hearing later this year on whether to decertify Heidelberg.
In court filings regarding his divorce and child custody matters, Heidelberg has repeatedly denied accusations against him. Repeated attempts over more than a week to contact him via social media, email and phone for comment were unsuccessful.
VIDEO SHOWN TO CHILDREN
Court records show Sebastian County Judge Annie Powell Hendricks last year said Heidelberg has shown "poor judgment" regarding his children.
This is among multiple admonishments the judge has given to Heidelberg in the custody dispute with Lindsey Heidelberg Buergler, court records show.
"The Court is concerned that the Defendant showed the children a police video evidencing a killing after the parents were admonished by the Sebastian County Sheriff's Department and the Hamilton House not to show the video," Hendricks wrote in an April 23, 2024, order, which was filed in Sebastian court's Fort Smith district on Aug. 12, 2024.
On Tuesday, Hendricks granted a request by Buergler for emergency suspension of visitation, court records show, amid allegations Heidelberg violated previous court orders relating to the couple's children.
Hendricks also ordered that Heidelberg's current wife, Carrie, stay away from the three children who are minors, according to court documents.
Heidelberg's attorney, Justin Huett of Benton, filed Friday for a continuance on the emergency hearing on the matter, which had been set for Jan. 15.
The motion filed by Huett stated he had confirmed the related ongoing investigation by the State Police child-related crime unit, court records show.
'JUSTIFIED SHOOTING'
Months before Buergler initiated a divorce, Heidelberg was hailed as a hero after shooting a carjacking suspect in Fort Smith.
In 2014, Heidelberg was off-duty as a Sebastian County Sheriff's Office deputy when he shot and killed a man who had exchanged gunfire with Fort Smith police, according to news reports at the time.
Police responded to a domestic disturbance in Fort Smith about 5 p.m. Aug. 9, 2014, in the Brooken Hill area.
Oklahoma resident Justin W. Higgins, 23, took a man hostage in his vehicle, shot at police and then attempted to hijack another vehicle.
Heidelberg opened fire when Higgins pointed a gun at the deputy, police stated.
"Higgins was holding a gun to the head of a family friend of Heidelberg and Higgins was about to drive away with Heidelberg's friend and Heidelberg's children in the vehicle," a news release from Lt. Philip Pevehouse with the Sheriff's Office stated. "Deputy Heidelberg's swift and decisive action stopped an active shooter who had already shown a disregard for human lives."
Then-Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck called Heidelberg's actions "heroic," and though it was a "horrible situation" considered it a "justified shooting."
MURDER INVESTIGATION
In 2023, Heidelberg was a Johnson County deputy and lead investigator in the case when Jacqueline Smith, 33, was killed in Clarksville.
Holman, age 25 at the time, was charged with manslaughter, possession of drug paraphernalia and reckless driving involving physical injury, first offense, according to Johnson County court records.
According to the June 29, 2023, probable cause affidavit in Holman's case -- which was written by Heidelberg -- first responders were called at 4:32 p.m. May 13, 2023, to a camper at 10833 Arkansas 352 in Clarksville.
They found Smith's body in the passenger seat of a 2001 white Chevrolet Tahoe owned by Holman, the affidavit states. She had blunt force trauma injuries, according to police.
"Kyle Holman made utterances to law enforcement that he had ran over Jacqueline on County Road 3216," the affidavit states.
According to police, when Holman was interviewed at the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, he said he and Smith argued over drug use and she left, but it began to rain so Holman and Nathan Gilbert drove to pick her up in the Tahoe.
The affidavit written by Heidelberg states Holman said the pair passed Smith as she walked on the driver's side embankment on Arkansas 352 opposite the direction they were driving.
Holman backed up, rolling down his window to see due to no passenger mirror, back glass that was missing and covered with plastic, and poor visibility, the affidavit states.
"Shortly after beginning to back up, he impacted and ran over Smith with the rear passenger tire of the Tahoe," the affidavit states.
Holman admitted he had used methamphetamine two days before the fatal incident, police reported. Lab results later showed amphetamine and meth in Holman's system, the affidavit states.
On May 22, 2023, according to the affidavit, investigators reviewed electronic data from the Tahoe that showed the vehicle was going 45 mph five seconds before the impact and traveled approximately 131 to 175 feet in that time.
Police said the data also showed the vehicle decelerated to 32 mph at the time of impact and that the driver used the brakes two seconds before impact.
According to court records, Holman was on probation at the time of Smith's death for a Jan. 5, 2023, incident in which he negotiated a Feb. 16, 2023, guilty plea to felony fleeing and other charges.
BRADY MATERIALS
On Sept. 12, 2024, Steven Higgins, deputy prosecuting attorney for the Fifth Judicial District, filed a disclosure of Brady material in the Holman case involving Smith's death, according to court documents.
Under the Brady rule, prosecutors must disclose to the defense information in the government's possession that may tend to exonerate the defendant, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Brady material includes any exculpatory evidence that may reduce the defendant's potential sentence, speak to the credibility of a prosecution witness or in some other way might allow a jury to infer against the defendant's guilt.
In the Holman case, the Brady material disclosure by Higgins notes that Heidelberg was lead detective in the Smith killing and the prosecution received documents on Sept. 6 related to Heidelberg's divorce from Buergler.
The filing by Higgins reveals Heidelberg faced a verified motion for contempt citation during divorce proceedings on Aug. 18, 2023; was the subject of an emergency motion for suspension of visitation and modification of custody on Nov. 9, 2023; was noted for "some lack of credibility and honesty" by Judge Hendricks in the divorce case on Dec. 18, 2023; and was noted in a Feb. 21, 2024, order from Hendricks as having "lacked credibility" in testimony.
Higgins filed the Brady material disclosure as "evidence of character and conduct of a witness," court documents show.
LOOKING FORWARD
Holman is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 12, according to court records.
Two months after the Brady materials filing, on Nov. 15, 2024, Judge Jack T. Patterson II of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, Division 4, ruled that, rather than manslaughter, Holman committed the lesser charge of negligent homicide, court records show.
That reduction in charge was at the prosecution's request, Patterson stated in court documents.
Regarding Heidelberg's possible decertification, Sheriff Hughes wrote in documents before the state commission for law enforcement last week it was August 2024 when he became aware of the contempt citation motion, credibility issues cited by Judge Hendricks and related information from the year before.
Hughes said Heidelberg resigned from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 5 as he was about to be demoted. He had received an Aug. 2 letter of counseling related to his work performance, the sheriff said.
One of the issues the disciplinary letter by Capt. Grant Nicely to Heidelberg lists is "telling subordinates and peers that you are investigating ranking members of this sheriff's office."
The Democrat-Gazette obtained the letter with a stack of materials from the Sheriff's Office via Freedom of Information Act requests.
Heidelberg is one of multiple deputies who Hughes said have participated in a conspiracy to harm the reputation of former chief deputy Jacob Shook.
According to the sheriff, Heidelberg had said previously that if he had to resign or was fired, he would "bring the whole department down."
"Josh Heidelberg apologized to the chief clerk when he came to get his final check and said he wouldn't stop until Shook was in prison," Hughes wrote.