William R. Wright, a former circuit judge now practicing law in Hope, will preside over the trial in a lawsuit filed against convicted child rapist Barry Walker, prosecutor Jana Bradford and others accused of working to shield Walker over the years.
Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Dan Kemp appointed Wright as a special judge in the Clark County case after Circuit Judge Blake Batson recently recused. Batson did not give a reason, but one of the defendants in the lawsuit is Walker’s niece, Prosecuting Attorney Jana Bradford of the 9th Judicial District West, which includes neighboring Pike County.
The lawsuit was filed in October 2022, and Bradford was added as a defendant in February. Among the matters now awaiting judicial action in the case is a motion to dismiss Bradford as a defendant.
In the April 19 motion, Bradford noted that she was a deputy prosecutor at the time the allegations against her were made. “This Court should dismiss the claims brought against Bradford because she is immune from suit for professional actions taken as an attorney, especially when the Plaintiffs were not in privity with Bradford as their attorney at any time,” wrote Bradford’s attorney, Erin Cassinelli.
Bradford has worked as a part-time deputy prosecutor but also helped her uncle with some legal issues, including trying to get him a pardon and to get his name off the state’s sex offender list.
Walker is serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole in state prison.
