Cleashindra Hall's case was featured on the television show "Find Our Missing" in January 2012.
To watch the original episode that aired in January 2012, visit this link below:
VIDEO: "Find Our Missing" Cleashindra Hall Episode Jan 2012
Follow Clea's Case on Facebook here:
Find Cleashindra Hall on Facebook
#FindCleaHall
VIDEO: "Find Our Missing" Cleashindra Hall Episode Jan 2012
Follow Clea's Case on Facebook here:
Find Cleashindra Hall on Facebook
#FindCleaHall
This article is from the Pine Bluff Commercial. It is being posted here for informational purposes. This is a link to the original article,
Updated: 5:31 pm - July 31, 2012
By Ray King of the Commercial Staff
Pine Bluff police Lt. Bob Rawlinson said Tuesday he did nothing wrong when he took the evidence from the Cleashindra Hall case home with him until he could properly turn it in the next day. Rawlinson is appealing a two-day suspension given him by Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones, who accused him of violating department policy with regard to the handling of the evidence in the case.
Testifying before a civilian review panel Tuesday morning, Rawlinson, who supervised the serving of a search warrant at 5309 Faucett Road on March 29, said he didn’t believe he had violated department policy which says “it is an officer’s responsibility to properly handle, mark and package all evidence and transport all physical evidence to the evidence room or other authorized secure location as soon as possible. ”Rawlinson said another segment of that policy allows officers three days to turn in evidence and “it’s not illegal in the policy to transport or hold evidence in your car. The first opportunity I had, I turned it in.”
The suspension followed an internal investigation resulting from the discovery that the evidence had sat at the police department for more than a month before it was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory at Little Rock on May 8. Crime Scene Technician Cathy Ruhl was suspended for five days by Davis-Jones and Ruhl has reportedly admitted that she became involved in other cases and forgot about the evidence from the Hall case. The house, owned by Larry Amos, was the last place Hall was seen before she disappeared May 9, 1994.
Rawlinson said during the course of the time officers were serving the warrant and searching the house, there were several hundred people who gathered in front of the house and in the area, and Faucett Road was completely blocked and closed to through traffic because of all the vehicles parked on the street. He said a crime scene unit vehicle, which would normally be used to transport the evidence, was a long distance down the street while his unmarked police car was parked in the driveway of the house. After talking to Assistant Chief Ivan Whitfield, Rawlinson said the decision was made to put the four sacks of evidence into the trunk of his car so that an officer or crime scene technician “wouldn’t have to walk down the street and somebody possibly grab the evidence or compromise it.
”Rawlinson said he was one of the last officers to leave the scene, and was unsuccessful when he tried to call Ruhl on the radio so he could meet her and turn over the evidence then. A phone call to the crime scene technician’s office was also unsuccessful and Sgt. Bobby Vanlandingham, the department’s Evidence Officer “had already gone home,” Rawlinson said. He also said several small lockers at the police department “wouldn’t hold the evidence,” which consisted of four large grocery type paper bags. Later in his testimony, Rawlinson said the bags “ had pieces of sheet rock sticking out of them.” Police have declined to specifically identify the evidence collected but according to a search warrant return completed by Rawlinson, the items were removed from an interior wall inside the house. Rawlinson said he drove his police car to his house, parked it in the enclosed garage, and locked it until the next morning when he contacted Crime Scene Technician Amanda Hale and turned the evidence over to her on the parking lot of the police department.
“I didn’t authorize him putting it in the trunk of his car and Chief Whitfield didn’t authorize him taking it home,” Davis-Jones said. She said department policy calls for turning in evidence in a secure place, and “that doesn’t mean the trunk of a car.” “It should have been taken to the crime scene (technician’s) office,” Davis-Jones said, adding that crime scene technicians work 12-hour shifts. “If he couldn’t reach one at the office, MECA (Metropolitan Emergency Communications Association) can call one,” Davis-Jones said. She said that Rawlinson could have also driven to the crime scene office and waited for a technician to get there.
Davis-Jones also mentioned a drop box that officers could put evidence in but Rawlinson responded that the box “would hold a gun or some dope” but bags the size of the ones collected at the Amos residence could not be put in that drop box. Rawlinson, who was one of the lead detectives on the case, was reassigned by Davis-Jones on April 4 and is currently assigned as a patrol supervisor on the night shift. Davis-Jones said the transfer was unrelated to his handling of the Hall case. “I wanted to stay on the case,” Rawlinson said. It is a highly interesting case and I believe nobody knows more about this case than me. ”Davis-Jones described the Hall case as a “high profile case and I wouldn’t want a situation where taking home evidence possibly contaminated it.” She said she was responsible for reopening the case and requested Assistant Chief Kelvin Sargent assign someone to work on it. Davis-Jones said Officer Patrick Saffold, who was formerly a detective and is currently assigned to the Patrol Division, worked on the case before Rawlinson said Detective Jerry Lambert took it over.“ If he is so passionate about the case, he would have made sure the evidence got there (to the crime lab) the next day. He could have carried it there himself,” Davis-Jones said.
Rawlinson, who previously worked as Public Information Officer for the department under several different chiefs of police, said that working in that role under Davis-Jones, “nothing hit the newspaper until chief Jones approved it. If she was on vacation, we had to e-mail the release to her and she would e-mail changes back. It couldn’t be in the paper if she didn’t approve it, and Capt. (Greg) Shapiro (who is now department public information officer) said ‘the evidence wasn’t compromised.'” Shapiro made that statement in response to a question from The Commercial about Ruhl’s suspension which appeared in a story July 21. The review panel consisted of Capt. Mike Davis from the Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services Department, Inspection and Zoning Director Robert Tucker and Assistant City Attorney Daryl Taylor. They will have five days to make a decision on the appeal, and can uphold it, reverse it, or modify it.
Updated: 5:31 pm - July 31, 2012
By Ray King of the Commercial Staff
Pine Bluff police Lt. Bob Rawlinson said Tuesday he did nothing wrong when he took the evidence from the Cleashindra Hall case home with him until he could properly turn it in the next day. Rawlinson is appealing a two-day suspension given him by Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones, who accused him of violating department policy with regard to the handling of the evidence in the case.
Testifying before a civilian review panel Tuesday morning, Rawlinson, who supervised the serving of a search warrant at 5309 Faucett Road on March 29, said he didn’t believe he had violated department policy which says “it is an officer’s responsibility to properly handle, mark and package all evidence and transport all physical evidence to the evidence room or other authorized secure location as soon as possible. ”Rawlinson said another segment of that policy allows officers three days to turn in evidence and “it’s not illegal in the policy to transport or hold evidence in your car. The first opportunity I had, I turned it in.”
The suspension followed an internal investigation resulting from the discovery that the evidence had sat at the police department for more than a month before it was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory at Little Rock on May 8. Crime Scene Technician Cathy Ruhl was suspended for five days by Davis-Jones and Ruhl has reportedly admitted that she became involved in other cases and forgot about the evidence from the Hall case. The house, owned by Larry Amos, was the last place Hall was seen before she disappeared May 9, 1994.
Rawlinson said during the course of the time officers were serving the warrant and searching the house, there were several hundred people who gathered in front of the house and in the area, and Faucett Road was completely blocked and closed to through traffic because of all the vehicles parked on the street. He said a crime scene unit vehicle, which would normally be used to transport the evidence, was a long distance down the street while his unmarked police car was parked in the driveway of the house. After talking to Assistant Chief Ivan Whitfield, Rawlinson said the decision was made to put the four sacks of evidence into the trunk of his car so that an officer or crime scene technician “wouldn’t have to walk down the street and somebody possibly grab the evidence or compromise it.
”Rawlinson said he was one of the last officers to leave the scene, and was unsuccessful when he tried to call Ruhl on the radio so he could meet her and turn over the evidence then. A phone call to the crime scene technician’s office was also unsuccessful and Sgt. Bobby Vanlandingham, the department’s Evidence Officer “had already gone home,” Rawlinson said. He also said several small lockers at the police department “wouldn’t hold the evidence,” which consisted of four large grocery type paper bags. Later in his testimony, Rawlinson said the bags “ had pieces of sheet rock sticking out of them.” Police have declined to specifically identify the evidence collected but according to a search warrant return completed by Rawlinson, the items were removed from an interior wall inside the house. Rawlinson said he drove his police car to his house, parked it in the enclosed garage, and locked it until the next morning when he contacted Crime Scene Technician Amanda Hale and turned the evidence over to her on the parking lot of the police department.
“I didn’t authorize him putting it in the trunk of his car and Chief Whitfield didn’t authorize him taking it home,” Davis-Jones said. She said department policy calls for turning in evidence in a secure place, and “that doesn’t mean the trunk of a car.” “It should have been taken to the crime scene (technician’s) office,” Davis-Jones said, adding that crime scene technicians work 12-hour shifts. “If he couldn’t reach one at the office, MECA (Metropolitan Emergency Communications Association) can call one,” Davis-Jones said. She said that Rawlinson could have also driven to the crime scene office and waited for a technician to get there.
Davis-Jones also mentioned a drop box that officers could put evidence in but Rawlinson responded that the box “would hold a gun or some dope” but bags the size of the ones collected at the Amos residence could not be put in that drop box. Rawlinson, who was one of the lead detectives on the case, was reassigned by Davis-Jones on April 4 and is currently assigned as a patrol supervisor on the night shift. Davis-Jones said the transfer was unrelated to his handling of the Hall case. “I wanted to stay on the case,” Rawlinson said. It is a highly interesting case and I believe nobody knows more about this case than me. ”Davis-Jones described the Hall case as a “high profile case and I wouldn’t want a situation where taking home evidence possibly contaminated it.” She said she was responsible for reopening the case and requested Assistant Chief Kelvin Sargent assign someone to work on it. Davis-Jones said Officer Patrick Saffold, who was formerly a detective and is currently assigned to the Patrol Division, worked on the case before Rawlinson said Detective Jerry Lambert took it over.“ If he is so passionate about the case, he would have made sure the evidence got there (to the crime lab) the next day. He could have carried it there himself,” Davis-Jones said.
Rawlinson, who previously worked as Public Information Officer for the department under several different chiefs of police, said that working in that role under Davis-Jones, “nothing hit the newspaper until chief Jones approved it. If she was on vacation, we had to e-mail the release to her and she would e-mail changes back. It couldn’t be in the paper if she didn’t approve it, and Capt. (Greg) Shapiro (who is now department public information officer) said ‘the evidence wasn’t compromised.'” Shapiro made that statement in response to a question from The Commercial about Ruhl’s suspension which appeared in a story July 21. The review panel consisted of Capt. Mike Davis from the Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services Department, Inspection and Zoning Director Robert Tucker and Assistant City Attorney Daryl Taylor. They will have five days to make a decision on the appeal, and can uphold it, reverse it, or modify it.
An internal investigation into what caused the 40 day delay in submitting evidence to the Arkansas State Crime- has been completed.
On March 29, Pine Bluff Police executed a search warrant at the home of Dr. Larry Amos in relation to the disappearance of Cleashindra Denise Hall. Hall, who vanished on May 9, 1994- was last seen that night at the Amos home.
"If you're a crime scene technician and you're accustomed to handling evidence, what would make that day be different?" Laurell Hall, Cleashindra's mother, said.
Laurell Hall cannot understand how a technician with who has been with the department for nearly 20 years- wouldn't realize how crucial it was for that evidence to reach the lab- immediately.
"The fact that there were so many people, so many officers, it seems like that evidence would have important so what made it so different that you didn't follow the procedures that you follow everyday?" Laurell said.
The crime scene technician received a five day suspension without pay, however, the Halls are not satisfied.
"How can she verify that they weren't tainted and she handled them, handled them all the time and she can swear in a court of law that they weren't tainted," Laurell said.
** Meanwhile, the evidence is currently undergoing a second round of forensic testing. The lab announced in June that there was no presence of blood.
The March 29th search was the first time investigators were able to search the property in nearly 18 years
.
On March 29, Pine Bluff Police executed a search warrant at the home of Dr. Larry Amos in relation to the disappearance of Cleashindra Denise Hall. Hall, who vanished on May 9, 1994- was last seen that night at the Amos home.
Information obtained via a recently filed Freedom of Information Act request- details a crime scene technician telling an investigator she packaged the items taken from Dr. Larry Amos' home. However, once the packaged evidence reached the PBPD's evidence room- she realized she needed additional information for the submission form. However, she did not get around to it.
The technician responded, "It's not that I forgot it was there. It just got pushed aside for something else. The first time I realized that I really had to get it done was when Sergeant (whose name has been blacked out) called me.
The technician responded, "It's not that I forgot it was there. It just got pushed aside for something else. The first time I realized that I really had to get it done was when Sergeant (whose name has been blacked out) called me.
"If you're a crime scene technician and you're accustomed to handling evidence, what would make that day be different?" Laurell Hall, Cleashindra's mother, said.
Laurell Hall cannot understand how a technician with who has been with the department for nearly 20 years- wouldn't realize how crucial it was for that evidence to reach the lab- immediately.
"The fact that there were so many people, so many officers, it seems like that evidence would have important so what made it so different that you didn't follow the procedures that you follow everyday?" Laurell said.
The crime scene technician received a five day suspension without pay, however, the Halls are not satisfied.
"How can she verify that they weren't tainted and she handled them, handled them all the time and she can swear in a court of law that they weren't tainted," Laurell said.
** Meanwhile, the evidence is currently undergoing a second round of forensic testing. The lab announced in June that there was no presence of blood.
The March 29th search was the first time investigators were able to search the property in nearly 18 years
.
An internal investigation into what caused the 40 day delay in submitting evidence to the Arkansas State Crime- has been completed.
On March 29, Pine Bluff Police executed a search warrant at the home of Dr. Larry Amos in relation to the disappearance of Cleashindra Denise Hall. Hall, who vanished on May 9, 1994- was last seen that night at the Amos home.
Information obtained via a recently filed Freedom of Information Act request- details a crime scene technician telling an investigator she packaged the items taken from Dr. Larry Amos' home. However, once the packaged evidence reached the PBPD's evidence room- she realized she needed additional information for the submission form. However, she did not get around to it.
The technician responded, "It's not that I forgot it was there. It just got pushed aside for something else. The first time I realized that I really had to get it done was when Sergeant (whose name has been blacked out) called me.
"If you're a crime scene technician and you're accustomed to handling evidence, what would make that day be different?" Laurell Hall, Cleashindra's mother, said.
Laurell Hall cannot understand how a technician with who has been with the department for nearly 20 years- wouldn't realize how crucial it was for that evidence to reach the lab- immediately.
"The fact that there were so many people, so many officers, it seems like that evidence would have important so what made it so different that you didn't follow the procedures that you follow everyday?" Laurell said.
The crime scene technician received a five day suspension without pay, however, the Halls are not satisfied.
"How can she verify that they weren't tainted and she handled them, handled them all the time and she can swear in a court of law that they weren't tainted," Laurell said.
The March 29th search was the first time investigators were able to search the property in nearly 18 years.
According to Lt. Joanne Bates of the Pine Bluff Police Department, there was no blood found on the evidence seized from the search of the Amos residence on March 29, 2012. The Arkansas State Crime Lab will now move forward to conduct additional forensic tests.