Cops probe claim Ark. justice hit sister

A state Supreme Court justice is being investigated over claims that he assaulted his 62-year-old sister at a family reunion earlier this month, a special prosecutor appointed to the case said Friday.

According to a police report on the Sept. 2 altercation, Justice Jim Gunter asked his sister, Janet Gibson, for some genealogy papers he had left with her for a family reunion that day. When Gibson told Gunter that she was not through with the papers, he began screaming at her and backhanded her across the mouth, knocking her into a dresser, the report said.

"Janet stated that, as she was attempting to get off of the dresser, Jim turned towards her and put his hand in her shoulder and shoved her to the floor," the report said.

Investigators photographed Gibson's injuries, which included a swelled and cut lip and a large bruise on her lower back, the report said.

A call to Gunter's home in Hope was not immediately returned Friday.

Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, named this week to look into the allegations against Gunter, said he is reviewing the police report, which lists the possible offense as misdemeanor battery, and the rest of the case file to determine whether Gunter should be charged.

Jegley said he didn't have a timeline for deciding whether to charge Gunter and said he had not yet talked with the 64-year-old judge.

Gunter was elected to the state's highest court in 2004.