Rep. Matt Duffield, R-Russellville, left, and Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale, at a news conference April 18, 2024, about the death of Bryan Malinowski after federal agents raided his home in March. About 24 other lawmakers stood behind them. (Photo by Sonny Albarado/Arkansas Advocate)
ARKANSAS ADVOCATE: Conway resident Jimmie Cavin filed suit Tuesday against Arkansas State Police alleging the agency violated the state’s public records law in responding to a request for its investigative file into the shooting death of Bryan Malinowski.
Malinowski, 53, was executive director of Little Rock’s airport when he was shot by a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent during a pre-dawn raid on his West Little Rock home on March 19. He died a day later from a gunshot wound to the head. ATF agents and other law enforcement officers were serving a search warrant in connection with an investigation targeting Malinowski for allegedly acquiring and selling firearms illegally.
The shooting generated intense public interest and criticism because of the nature of the offense Malinowski was suspected of and the circumstances of the raid. Arkansas lawmakers and members of Congress questioned the necessity of using tactical gear and a nighttime raid to serve a search warrant on a person with no history of violent behavior. Lawmakers and others also questioned why ATF agents were not wearing body cameras as required by agency policy.
After reviewing the Arkansas State Police investigative file on the shooting, Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones ruled on June 14 that the agent’s use of deadly force was justifiable. Law enforcement investigative files become available publicly at the conclusion of a case.
On June 29, Cavin submitted an Arkansas Freedom of Information Act request for the entire ASP investigative file, according to the lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court on his behalf Tuesday by attorneys Joey McCutchen and Stephen Napurano of Fort Smith. The request covered any audio and video recordings as well as the ATF Operational Plan for the raid, the complaint says. ASP responded to Cavin’s AFOIA request on July 1 with a link to the requested file.
Cavin’s lawsuit says state police violated the AFOIA by failing to provide videos of interviews with ATF and Little Rock Police Department officers involved in the Malinowski raid. The suit also claims that audio of those interviews appeared to have been altered.
State police also violated the public records law by not complying with a subsequent request for the name, make and identification numbers of any devices used to record the interviews with officers involved in the raid, the lawsuit says.
The suit says Cavin contacted state police on July 15 to ask for the video of the interviews and was told that the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division did not video-record the interviews.
A review of the audio files, however, revealed they were in a format typically used for video and that there had been a video element to them, the lawsuit says.
“This suggests that the videos were intentionally removed,” the complaint says.
On July 31, the suit says, Cavin submitted another FOIA request seeking the make, model and identification number of the devices used to record the interviews of the ATF and LRPD officers as well as the original media file created by each device for each interview.
A state police representative reiterated that no video existed and did not supply the requested recording device information, the suit says.
The suit says the ATF Operational Plan wasn’t in the file Cavin originally received, but was in a file he received through a public records request to the prosecuting attorney’s office, raising a question as to why since the prosecutor based his decision on the ASP file.
The suit asks the court to declare ASP in violation of the public records law and to order its employees who handle public records requests to undergo training. The suit also asks the court to enjoin state police from altering public records and withholding public records in the future.
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