Three men who were arrested in the death of Christopher Alvard at his home near Eureka Springs almost six years ago are due to appear in court next week after prosecutors dropped charges against them in February 2023.
A special prosecutor has asked that the hearing be delayed, however, while an attorney for one of the accused men argues that the case should be dismissed.
Carroll County Circuit Judge Scott Jackson granted a special prosecutor’s motion for “Nolle Prosequi with good cause” in the cases of Joshua Anderson, Charles Ky Hanna and Jason Hartley Helm on Feb. 21, 2023. The ruling essentially meant that prosecutors were not pursuing the first-degree murder charges against Anderson, Hanna and Helm, but left open the possibility that charges could be refiled.
Jackson ordered all three men to appear in circuit court at 1 p.m. Monday Feb. 12, in Eureka Springs.
Anderson, Hanna and Helm were arrested on Feb. 8, 2021 — three years to the day after Carroll County Sheriff’s Office deputies who had been dispatched to check on an open door found Christopher Alvard’s body inside his home at 674 Carroll County Road 116 near Eureka Springs. The body of Alvard’s dog also was found at the scene. An autopsy later determined that Alvard died as the result of multiple stab wounds. His dog also appeared to have been stabbed multiple times. Anderson, Hanna and Helm also were charged with felony animal cruelty.
Helm had been scheduled for trial in August 2022, but his case was abruptly continued at the request of special prosecutor Jack McQuary. With jury selection completed and opening statements scheduled to begin before a crowd of spectators at the Western District Courthouse in Eureka Springs on Aug. 24, 2022, McQuary moved to continue the case. McQuary told Jackson that prosecutors had received new information earlier that morning that he described as “crucial” to the state’s case.
Helm’s defense attorney, Ben Catterlin, objected to the continuance, but Jackson granted McQuary’s motion.
McQuary did not elaborate on the new information and declined to comment later but it was later revealed that Anderson had decided not to testify against Helm after initially agreeing to do so.
At a hearing to consider McQuary’s motion to nolle pros the charges with good cause on Feb. 21, 2023, in Berryville, Jackson said: “The episode that occurred on Aug. 24 affected the state’s case dramatically.”
Jackson said the “nature of the evidence changed,” when Anderson refused to testify.
Special prosecutor D. Jason Barrett filed a motion Jan. 11, asking Jackson to continue the Feb. 12 hearing. Barrett cited a scheduling conflict but also wrote that “no facts have changed that would warrant a refiling of charges at this time.”
Should the state move to refile charges, Barrett contends in his motion, that would be the appropriate time to make an argument regarding “good cause” for refiling.
Fayetteville attorney Stevan E. Vowell, representing Hanna, filed a response to Barrett’s motion on Jan. 17. Vowell argues that Jackson entered the order of “nolle prosequi with good cause,” without taking any testimony or other proof beyond a prosecutor’s affidavit to demonstrate that the state’s request of nolle prosequi was based on good cause.
“Defendant states that the court should not have made a finding of good cause on February 21, 2023, without at least hearing testimony from the investigating officers as to why the nolle prosequi was needed and why the investigators thought that additional evidence might be found which would support a refiling of the charges,” Vowell writes. “Defendant further contends that that if the Court intends to hold a hearing on February 12, 2024, the Court should order the prosecution to produce its investigators to testify and produce any other evidence in its possession which would justify a finding of good cause.”
Vowell also notes that the defendants were entitled to a speedy trial on the original charges and asks Jackson to dismiss the case.
