Combat veteran Aaron Spencer (left) is charged with second degree murder for killing a man who had been charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse, including rape. Lieutenant Randy Sutton (ret.) says Spencer caught the predator in the act of abducting his then-13-year-old daughter, so it could be argued that he was protecting her from imminent danger.
"I'm questioning as to why he was charged at all," Sutton comments. "There's a defense here that he was trying to save his daughter."
He thinks it will be hard to find an Arkansas jury that would convict Spencer for doing what "every father would do."
"I think that he's going to have a great deal of support from people that believe that the criminal justice system failed," the retired law enforcement figure submits.
That is exactly why Spencer says he is running – to fix the broken system that failed his daughter.
"He has now brought to light the inadequacies of the criminal justice system in his county that allowed the rapist of his daughter to post a minimal bond and be released," Sutton relays.
As for the election, he is not sure what would happen in the unlikely event Spencer is convicted on the murder charge.
"If he was a peace officer that was applying for a job as a police officer and he had a felony conviction like this, he would not be eligible to be a cop," notes Sutton. "But this is an elected position."
Spencer has reportedly pleaded not guilty but has admitted to shooting his daughter's abductor. His trial is scheduled to start January 26, weeks before he faces off against the incumbent sheriff who oversaw his arrest.
Article 5, Section 9 of the Arkansas Constitution states that anyone convicted of a "felony" or "other infamous crime" is not eligible to hold any office of trust or profit in the state. The Arkansas Supreme Court has confirmed this provision makes a convicted person ineligible to hold office.
If Spencer were to win the election and then be convicted of murder, the office would be declared vacant as soon as the conviction were final.
