Episode Details

When a sitting judge writes that law enforcement conduct gave "the appearance of a coverup" and was "so egregious" that a murder prosecution must be dismissed — how does that language register at the federal level?

Aaron Spencer's second-degree murder charge was thrown out after the court found investigators mishandled the one piece of evidence that mattered most: a dashcam SD card from Michael Fosler's truck that was most likely recording during the fatal encounter. The card was handled inconsistently with every other item at the scene, in violation of department policy. Then it vanished.

Spencer killed Fosler after allegedly finding him with his daughter — the girl Fosler had been accused of harming, the man the system had released on bond. A father intervened when the system failed to protect his child. The system then turned that father into a defendant — and, according to the court, botched the investigation.

The overlapping interests make the case even more troubling. Spencer was a candidate for Lonoke County sheriff, running against the incumbent whose department handled the evidence. The original judge was removed from the case twice by the state Supreme Court. From the detective who mishandled the SD card to the prosecutor who pressed forward despite mounting evidence problems, the failures didn't point in different directions — they all pointed the same way.

Retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, who spent years investigating law enforcement conduct, and retired FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program Chief Robin Dreeke join Tony Brueski to walk through how the Bureau evaluates a case where the entire local system appears compromised — and what it takes for federal investigators to open the door.

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