Report: Barber to Stand Trial This Fall, Not This Month

Federal court trials involving former Northwest Arkansas developer Brandon Barber and four co-defendants have been pushed back several months according to a report published Wednesday in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The report indicates that Barber, 37, will appear in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith on September 16 and October 21, according to an order issued by Judge P.K. Holmes III.

Barber was to stand trial June 17 on 27 charges of fraud and money laundering from two separate indictments.

Barber’s attorney, Asa Hutchinson III of Rogers, filed a motion this week saying he did not have enough time to prepare for the trial.

Barber was arrested March 20 and arraigned April 15.

Both of the trials are now scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in the federal courthouse in Fort Smith. Barber faces 26 counts in the Sept. 16 trial and one count in the Oct. 21 trial.

In his request to Judge Holmes, Hutchinson, according to the report, said there were 25,000 pages of documents including bank records, land transactions, e-mails, court documents, financial statements and bankruptcy records that pertain to the case, as well as numerous electronic files.

Those documents were provided by U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge’s office to the defense on April 22 as part of initial discovery material for the trial. Additional “voluminous” discovery material is available for inspection at Eldridge’s office, according to the motion.

“The time between April 22, 2013, and the current trial date is insufficient to review all the documents and evidence that the government has accumulated during its multi-year investigation of the case,” wrote Hutchinson.

Judge Holmes granted Hutchinson’s request, despite one of the four co-defendants asking that the trial proceed as scheduled on June 17 because he was entitled to a “speedy trial.”

James Van Doren of New York City, according to the Democrat-Gazette, wanted to go to trial on June 17 as scheduled.

Only seven charges, involving about 200 pages of documents, pertain to Van Doren, according to the report.

The charges against Van Doren include four for money laundering and one each for bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to the indictment, Van Doren helped Barber conceal assets from creditors. The indictment states that, among other things, Van Doren accepted a $64,000 check and briefcase containing $30,000 in cash from Barber. In both instances, the money was used to pay Barber’s expenses, according to the indictment.

The Democrat-Gazette also reported that Van Doren “voluntarily terminated” his employment as a banker while the charges against him are pending, according to his motion.

Eldridge has indicated that he is ready to go to trial against all of the defendants on June 17, according to the motion. But the U.S. attorney’s office had no objection to postponing the trial, according to Barber’s filing Thursday.

Other co-defendants are K. Vaughn Knight, 46; Jeff Whorton, 45; and Brandon Rains, 32, all of Northwest Arkansas.