An attempted murder trial in Benton County came to a screeching halt last week when it was revealed that prosecutors failed to hand over video evidence for more than two years.

The body-worn camera footage showed the alleged victim, Robert Gatchet, apparently admitting to police that he punched his partner before she turned a gun on him in December 2022. He had previously maintained the shooting was unprovoked.

Gatchet then wrestled the gun from his partner, Tina Ross, and shot her multiple times. Both survived the incident. Ross was charged with five felonies, including attempted murder. If convicted, she would have faced a minimum prison sentence of 90 months. There were no charges filed against Gatchet, who claimed self-defense.

Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys were aware of the video, they said.

Benton County Sheriff Jef Van Arsdall couldn’t explain how Gatchet’s initial claim wasn’t documented by the sergeant who wore the body camera.

“We’re certainly frustrated when things like this happen,” Benton County District Attorney Ryan Joslin said. “We’re just going to make sure we make every effort to ensure that this scenario doesn’t play out again.”

Ross had maintained that Gatchet had hit her before she grabbed a gun. After the dismissal, she blamed both law enforcement and prosecutors for ignoring her claims of self-defense.

“We’re innocent until found guilty, not the other way around,” Ross said. “I don’t want anybody to go through what I went through. I’m still affected.”

Unseen footage

One day after the incident, Benton County Sergeant Matt Moser interviewed Gatchet. While Moser disclosed this in his report, it was never provided during discovery. Moser did not mention Gatchet’s statements in the report.

During the interview, Gatchet said: “I punched her in the head and she shot me. She hesitated. I got up and tried to get the gun out of her hand.”

The footage came to light after John Rich, Ross’s attorney, cross-examined Moser on the third day of the trial this month. Moser confirmed recording the interview.

“I basically said I’m not going to cross-examine him anymore until we get these recordings,” Rich told OPB.

The footage arrived that evening, Rich said. The following day, they played the footage in court. Benton County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Donohue then ruled that the omission violated Ross’s due process and dismissed the case.

“They had this information on the second day (of the investigation),” Rich said. “We didn’t get it until two years, two months and 19 days later.”

Joslin, the district attorney, and Sheriff Van Arsdale said the video was not appropriately linked with the case file in their backend evidence systems. Both said they are planning to make policy changes to prevent future issues.

“We’re certainly frustrated when things like this happen,” Joslin said. “We want to get to the truth and we want to do it in a fair and appropriate way.”

When asked if he is planning to review the police work on the case, Van Arsdale said he wasn’t sure yet. He largely blamed the evidence handling process and increase in video recordings.

“If it’s a personnel matter then of course it’s a personnel matter and we’ll discuss it internally,” Van Arsdale said. “Overall, we put some things in place along with the district attorney just to make sure this type of thing doesn’t happen anymore.”

Ross said she felt vindicated by the dismissal. She said she wasn’t sure if she planned to take civil action.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/03/27/benton-county-attempted-murder-trial-dismissed-undisclosed-footage/