The Oliver Firm

02/05/2026

***Attached video is graphic & disturbing.****

COURT OF APPEALS AFFIRMS JUDGMENT AGAINST STODDARD CO. SHERIFF FOR VIOLATION OF SUNSHINE LAW BY REFUSING TO PRODUCE VIDEO OF DEPUTY SHOOTING A FAMILY'S DOG AND ORDERS HIM TO PAY THE OLIVER FIRM'S ATTORNEY FEES ON APPEAL

(The body camera footage which was the subject of the appeal is attached to this post)

On February 4, 2026, the Southern District Court of Appeals issued its opinion affirming the Judgment entered against the Stoddard County Sheriff for a knowing violation of the Missouri Sunshine Law in The Oliver Firm, LC v. Carl Hefner, Sheriff of Stoddard County (Stoddard County Case No: 23SD-CC00079) (Southern District Appeal No: SD38762) and ordering the trial court to award The Oliver Firm its attorney fees on appeal.

The Oliver Firm in Dexter, MO filed a lawsuit to obtain a bodycam video that showed the killing of the family’s dog by a deputy employed by Sheriff Carl Hefner. Following a bench trial, the trial court found the Sheriff knowingly violated Missouri’s Sunshine Law, § 610.010, et seq., by refusing to provide The Oliver Firm with the bodycam video. The trial court ordered the Sheriff to pay The Oliver Firm a civil penalty, reasonable attorney fees, and deposition costs, totaling $6,317.50. The Court of Appeals affirmed that order and added that the Sheriff would have to pay the Oliver Firm their attorney fees for the appeal.

On August 27, 2023, the Pennington family’s dog, a nine-year-old black lab mix named Parker, was shot to death and left in a ditch by a deputy employed by the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department. The deputy was wearing a bodycam and created the video at the time of the shooting. The video that Sheriff Hefner refused to produce to The Oliver Firm and thereby knowingly violated the Missouri Sunshine Law, ultimately showed that the deputy opened the door to his patrol vehicle and walked away. Parker jumped out of the vehicle. The deputy then called, “Come here, boy, sit down.” Parker sat down and was then shot by the deputy. Parker did not die immediately, but laid there “in great pain” for about eight minutes. The deputy then shot Parker again, finally killing him, and threw Parker’s body in the ditch.

The trial court found and the appellate court affirmed that the Sheriff violated the Sunshine Law “by engaging in behavior specifically designed to prevent the disclosure to the [Oliver Firm]” of the video requested.

On August 29, 2023, The Oliver Firm hand-delivered a letter to the Sheriff’s office requesting government records pursuant to the Sunshine Law. Specifically, the request was for “all body worn camera footage for [the deputy] created on August 27, 2023.” In response, the office manager produced two videos created on that date, but these were unrelated to Parker’s death. The office manager explained that “only two videos [can be] released at this time due to active investigations.”

However, the evidence showed that no investigation was conducted. The Sheriff’s Department did not conduct its own investigation related to Parker’s shooting, but instead requested that an investigation be conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP). On September 11, 2023, the Sheriff’s Department was informed by MSHP that it would not conduct any investigation into the matter. On September 19, 2023, the file was transmitted to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office of Stoddard County to conduct a criminal investigation. The investigator for that office testified that he “just read the reports and watched the bodycam video.” The following March, Investigator “drafted a probable cause affidavit”, but “[n]o further action” was taken with the case. (The Stoddard County Prosecutor sought and obtained the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to determine if charges would be filed.)

The body camera video was ultimately produced to The Oliver Firm by the Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney, but was never provided by the Sheriff's Department.

According to the Sheriff, the investigation was still “active and ongoing” so long as the misdemeanor statute of limitations of one year had not passed, even though the Sheriff was admittedly “doing nothing” and planned on “doing nothing in the future[.]” The Sheriff stated that he had not been motivated by his upcoming election when making the determination to withhold the Video. However, by considering the investigation active, the Sheriff asserted he was legally entitled to withhold the Video until at least 20 days after the election, as the one-year limitations period of Parker’s shooting death ran through August 27, 2024.

The trial court made a specific finding and the Court of Appeals affirmed that the Sheriff’s refusal to comply with The Oliver Firm's request was a “knowing” violation:

"To be clear, liability under the statute is not herein found by the Court based solely on [Sheriff’s] simple failure to comply with the Sunshine Law. To the contrary, the evidence reflects, instead, and the Court hereby finds, that [Sheriff] actively sought to hide the apparent disturbing actions of one of his Deputies in order to avoid an apparent public outcry, and systemically sought to thwart the efforts of the Plaintiff to obtain video of the incident, regardless of the reason it may have been sought. This is made all the more evident by [Sheriff’s] persistent insistence on preventing only the most inflammatory of the videos from being released or viewed.
It further appears from the evidence that [Sheriff’s] decision to forestall release of the video was likely also designed to delay pursuit of a civil claim against the County, the Sheriff’s Department, his Deputy, or himself. The sequence of events described in the testimony and shown by the exhibits, together with the months-long delay in providing the requested video, reveal a knowing violation of the Act."

The Sheriff raised three points on appeal. All three points were denied by the Southern District Court of Appeals.

The full opinion of the Southern District Court of Appeals and the full body camera footage of the shooting of Parker is attached.

The sect. 1983 civil lawsuit concerning the shooting of Parker is currently on appeal to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

****WARNING: The body camera footage is extremely disturbing and depicts graphic images of a deputy shooting a family's dog and throwing it in a ditch*******

02/04/2026

Not Guilty. Today a Butler Co jury aquitted our client Crystal Umfress of allegations of arson for hire of Lupita’s (a Mexican restaurant in Kennett, MO) in 2023. Our firm was honored to represent Crystal and clear her name of these false allegations. The jury deliberated only one hour and 5 minutes before returning their not guilty verdict.

09/16/2025

Our fight to protect Southeast Missouri chicken farmers continues. We are excited to get these broiler farmers their day in court in Scott County, MO as a result of our successful motion to remand out of federal court.

A class action lawsuit against Tyson Foods is moving out of federal court and back to Scott County.

06/26/2025

One local farmer is facing financial turmoil after countless months of no operation.

12/20/2024

DEXTER – On an early August morning in 2023, Shawn Hinkle received a call from one of his technicians at Tyson Foods who, through tears, told him the company’s plant in Dexter was shutting down.

09/19/2024

Russ will be appearing this evening on Fox Business to discuss Tyson and the closure of the Dexter Complex. Tune in tonight (Thurs. 9/19) 5pm-6 CST

05/06/2024

For over a year, our firm has been investigating claims of gender discrimination in the disparate enforcement of the dress code by the Puxico R-8 School District against female students.

Selective gender-based dress code enforcement has drastic consequences to the self-esteem, body image and mental health of young girls. It is also a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and a violation of Federal Law (Title IX).

If your female student has experienced such selective enforcement of the dress code at the Puxico R-8 School District (High School or Junior High), please contact our office to schedule an appointment at 573-614-7959. The consultation is free and absolutely confidential.

www.oliver-lawfirm.com

1402 N. Outer Rd.,
Dexter, MO 63841

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

12/13/2023

"The actions of Tanner Watkins that day to save his brother's and his friend's life were selfless and heroic, not criminal" Russ Oliver.

Engaging in lawful Self-Defense is what Tanner did. Fighting to tell our client's story is what we do.

Our full statement on the outcome of the jury trial and post-trial motions is below:

“The evidence presented over the course of the week-long trial established that Tanner Watkins came to Rotary Park that day for a fist-fight. Instead, what Tanner and his brother Tyler drove into was an ambush.

As Tanner entered the park, Tyler was in a separate vehicle driving behind him. Both vehicles were fired upon by Levi Morgan and K.M.. Levi Morgan was firing two separate weapons, an AR-15 style .300 blackout ARP and a .40 caliber G***k with a 30 round magazine. K.M. was firing a 9mm Walther handgun. Early in the course of the ambush, Tyler’s car was immobilized after being struck by a .40 caliber bullet fired by Levi Morgan.

Tyler and his passenger were 100% unarmed and gunshot residue tests confirmed neither had fired a weapon that day. Tanner’s brother and his passenger were sitting ducks in the middle of the open park as the Morgan brothers continued to rain down dozens of bullets on their immobilized car.

As Tanner was leaving the park after having been shot at by the Morgan brothers, he realized that his brother’s car was not moving and was still being shot at by the Morgan brothers.

It was only at this point that Tanner stopped his vehicle, stood in the open park drawing the fire off his brother’s car and onto himself, and then returned fire (with a gun that was always in his vehicle) to save his brother’s life and the life of his brother’s passenger.

The actions of Tanner Watkins that day to save his brother's life were selfless and heroic, not criminal.

In addition, the evidence presented at trial failed to prove that Tanner actually shot either of the victims. It appeared from the evidence presented at trial that the victims were in fact inadvertently shot by the Morgan brothers as they wildly sprayed the park with bullets.

This case and the actions of Tanner Watkins that day was a clear lawful use of self-defense and defense of another.

Anyone put in Tanner’s unfortunate position would have done whatever was necessary to save the life of his brother and his friend.”

09/05/2023

Today, September 5, 2023, The Oliver Firm, L.C., on behalf of Bryan & Tylla Pennington, filed a lawsuit against Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner and his records custodian Amy Holden for the release of the body-worn camera footage of Deputy Rodger Seal killing the Pennington’s family dog Parker on August 27, 2023.

On August 30, 2023, our firm submitted a request, pursuant to Chapter 610 R.S.Mo., to the Sheriff’s Department for release of the footage. The Sheriff’s Department has refused to produce the video. Our lawsuit seeks to compel production of the footage, imposition of a civil penalty and for attorney fees in the prosecution of the cause of action.

We believe that democracy dies in the dark.
We call upon the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department to release this footage to Parker’s family.


A file stamped copy of the lawsuit is attached.