Representative Cases

Lawyers at Buckley, McLemore & Hudson, P.A. represent individuals in Fayetteville and throughout Northwest Arkansas in criminal defense, domestic relations, and personal injury matters.  Our representative cases include:

Trials

2009 - Manslaughter case in which client was charged with the strangulation death of his own son. Self-defense was asserted by the client. Cross-examination of the state medical examiner and two eyewitnesses proved to be the key to the case. This case also underlined the importance of the preparation of the defense's own witnesses. Because they had been thoroughly interviewed, and potential cross-examination by the state discussed, prepared for, and anticipated, the witnesses were able to tell their stories in a seamless and compelling way. Client was found not guilty.

2009 - Represented father in a change of custody case.  Through the use of a private detective, we were able to establish that the mother was cohabitating with a man to whom she was not married, that the man was physically abusing her, and that she had developed a serious drinking problem.  At trial, the father was awarded full custody of his daughter.

2008 - Defended an octogenarian charged with murder in connection with the tragic homicide of his wife of over 62 years. Raised the affirmative defense of mental disease, and through the use of defense experts in psychiatry and neurology, as well as through aggressive cross-examination of State experts, established that client suffered from breathing and sleeping disorders. A hung jury resulted in a mistrial. Client remains free on bond.

2007 - Client was accused of negligent homicide in the deaths of two teenagers who were hit by his car as they stood on the edge of the road on a busy four lane highway. Defense use of an accident reconstructionist, an expert toxicologist, and aggressive investigation that produced two eyewitnesses resulted in the State dismissing charges two weeks before trial.

2006 - Client was charged with DWI, violation of implied consent, and leaving the scene of an accident. Thorough investigation by the defense produced two key witnesses who disputed the testimony of the arresting officers, thereby creating a reasonable doubt as to her guilt. She was acquitted of all charges.

2006 - Represented mother in a custody case who was accused of committing adultery while the father was doing a one year tour of duty in Iraq.  The mother admitted the affair at trial; however, we alleged that, nonetheless, it would not be in the best interest of the children for the father to have custody due to several factors, not the least of which was that the father was now suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.  Through aggressive cross examination of the father, as well as through several witnesses of our own, we were able to establish that the father had exhibited inappropriate behavior in the presence of the children, and that he was reckless with the family finances since returning from Iraq.  The mother was awarded full custody of the children.

2005 - Client was accused of raping his own wife. They were going through a divorce and a custody dispute over their two children was imminent. The case hinged on the credibility of the complaining witness and some questionable forensic evidence (rape kit, fingerprint samples, and trace metals examination). Cross examination skills were critical to the defense. At trial, client was found not guilty.

2003 - Client was charged with capital murder. He had been convicted of murder in the first degree in Texas twenty years earlier and paroled after 14 years. The victim, a well-known local figure, was client's neighbor in a small lakeside community. The murder was committed in 1999 and remained unsolved for two years, when an informant came forward and named client as the murderer. The State's theory of the case revolved around a Y2K conspiracy and was based almost solely on circumstantial evidence. After a two-week trial, client was acquitted of all charges.

2002 - Represented mother in a custody case. DHS had concluded that she had mistreated her children.  We successfully appealed the DHS finding of maltreatment and presented evidence at trial which proved that the witnesses who were alleging maltreatment were not telling the truth. Ultimately, mother's name was removed from the child maltreatment registry and she was awarded full custody of her two children.

2000 - Man charged with two counts of sexual solicitation following complaints made by two girls about client approaching them in public park. Independent investigation and comprehensive cross-examination of complaining witnesses resulted in a jury verdict of not guilty on both counts.

1996 - Appointed to represent client following successful appeal of first conviction which netted client 30-year prison sentence on two counts of rape and sexual abuse of a young boy. At second trial, we developed evidence that the boy's relative had framed client. Following vigorous cross-examination of the alleged victim, client's second jury trial resulted in hung jury. Client was never prosecuted again.

1993 - Represented young man charged with aggravated robbery along with a co-defendant, following a gun-to-the-head hold up of a delivery driver. At trial we defended the case on the ground that there was insufficient evidence of accomplice activity. Jury trial resulted in acquittal on the robbery charge and conviction of lesser offense of theft.

Settled Cases

2008 - Represented former NFL football player who was originally ordered to pay $4,396.87 per month in child support.  He was out of work and unable to pay child support from 2005 through 2008, when he earned a spot on a Canadian Football League team.  We were able to negotiate a settlement with the mother of his child whereby he was given credit for the $98,464.27 arrearage, with no judgment being entered against him.  His child support obligations were then reduced to a level commensurate with his new, and much lower, Canadian Football League salary.  Even though Canada has no state income taxes, we were able to convince the court that he should be allowed to deduct various Canadian taxes from his gross pay before going to the Arkansas Family Support Chart to arrive at his new child support level.

1998 - Appointed by the State to represent 38-year-old who confessed to capital murder in a notorious case involving the sexual assault and homicide of 13-year-old boy. The State sought the death penalty for over two years while the defense raised multiple constitutional claims and litigated numerous pre-trial motions before the State entered into a plea bargain with client, sparing his life.

Appeals

1994 - Represented man on appeal who had been convicted of conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine and sentenced to prison. Arkansas Supreme Court agreed with our argument that accomplice testimony at trial had not been corroborated. Client's prison sentence was vacated and his conviction overturned.

Administrative Proceedings

2009 - Defended teenager placed on the child maltreatment registry following allegations he sexually assaulted his step-sister. At the administrative hearing, through cross-examination, we established that the DHS investigation was flawed and developed evidence that client never had opportunity to commit the offense. His name was removed from the central registry.

2009 - Appealed commercial driver's license suspension following client's arrest for DWI. Successfully argued that officer did no present enough evidence to Driver Control to justify the suspension. Commercial driver's license was reinstated.

2008 - Appealed sex offender registration risk factor determination. We accumulated and presented treatment records that should have been taken into account during the initial risk assessment, which resulted in a lowering of the client's risk determination.