Citing new evidence, prosecutors drop charge against Spokane Valley man accused in fatal beating

Deputies may have arrested the wrong man in connection with a beating in Spokane Valley that left a 40-year-old man with fatal head wounds.

Prosecutors last month dropped a first-degree assault charge against 38-year-old Joseph R. W. Riley, citing “potentially exculpatory information” uncovered after his arrest.

Riley was accused of beating Daniel G. Jarman in a parking lot outside Ichabod’s East, a bar at 12116 E. Sprague Ave., in the early hours of Dec. 29.

Jarman, an Army veteran and father of two, died five days later at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Two women who had accompanied Jarman to two other bars that night, drinking heavily, told deputies Riley had been part of their group and that he was the assailant. They gave deputies Riley’s name the day after the assault, after one woman looked him up on Facebook.

Riley, a tattoo artist with no prior criminal record, insists he was at home with his wife and children at the time of the assault.

“Within 48 hours, I was able to conclusively determine that Riley didn’t do this,” said Ted Pulver, a private investigator Riley hired in hopes of clearing his name.

Detectives now are pursuing other leads.

“As the investigation went on, we started getting some conflicting information that it possibly wasn’t Mr. Riley,” said Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. “We want to make sure we have the right guy and hold the right person accountable.”

Attempts to reach the two women for comment were unsuccessful. Gregory requested that The Spokesman-Review refrain from naming them, citing concerns that additional pressure on witnesses might interfere with the investigation.

“We are still talking to people and looking for witnesses, so specific information could cause issues with future interviews or unsure accounts,” he said.

According to court records from Riley’s case, the women told deputies they had pulled into the parking lot outside Ichabod’s after the bar closed at about 2 a.m.

The women said they wanted to drop off Jarman at his vehicle, but he refused to get out of the SUV and got into an argument with Riley. They claimed the two men stepped outside, and Riley punched Jarman, immediately knocking him to the ground, and then punched him “at least a dozen more times.”

While new evidence has cast doubt on Riley’s involvement, charging documents suggested the women were certain they had been hanging out with him that night.

The records state that on the afternoon of Dec. 29, one of the women “performed an online search for Joe, knowing he was a tattoo artist who worked at the mall. She located Joe Riley’s name and pulled up his Facebook page, confirming through the photos visible on the page Joe was in fact the same person she had been introduced to, and who she had seen punch Daniel in the face.”

The other woman said she had been familiar with Riley for about two years and recognized him as a Facebook friend.

“She said she did not initially remember his name but, over time, remembered his name and that he worked at Speakeasy Tattoo in the Spokane Valley Mall,” the records state.

Both women said they had first met Jarman earlier that night.

The sheriff’s office on Jan. 24 publicized grainy surveillance video, taken from Ichabod’s, that appears to show several men witnessing the assault in the parking lot of an adjacent hardware store. The men arrived in the lot in a light-colored sedan that appears to be a Honda Civic or a similar model.

Gregory, the sheriff’s office spokesman, said anyone with information about the case should call Detective Marc Melville at (509) 477-3325.

In an interview, Riley said he didn’t know Jarman, who had recently moved to Spokane Valley, and he did not recognize the names of the two women who accused him. He said he’s well-known as a tattoo artist and meets a lot of people through tattoo and comic conventions.

Riley said he had not heard about the attack at Ichabod’s until deputies showed up at his home and arrested him on Jan. 2. Jarman was still in the hospital at the time.

“When they showed up, I had no idea what was going on,” Riley said. “They wouldn’t give me any information, except that a fight happened.”

Riley said the deputies asked to see his hands, looking for evidence that he had repeatedly punched Jarman’s head, as one of the women described. Riley said the deputies appeared “confused” when they found no bruises or wounds on his knuckles.

He spent 13 days in jail before posting a $150,000 bond, which required his family to sell some belongings. He said his incarceration was especially traumatic because he has autism and often feels overstimulated or overwhelmed.

“Being innocent and being locked up was the most helpless, helpless nightmare feeling I’ve ever experienced,” he said.

Riley and his attorney, Doug Phelps, said the arrest has damaged his reputation and that of his tattoo business.

“You can imagine being an innocent man, and being locked up, and having to pay a lot of money to get out, and having your family and everybody in the community question your integrity,” Phelps said. “He’s dealt with all that.”

Deputy prosecutor Sharon Hedlund moved to dismiss the charge on Jan. 30, writing that “potentially exculpatory information has recently been discovered that supports dismissal pending further investigation.”

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Julie McKay dismissed the charge “without prejudice,” meaning prosecutors still can charge Riley in connection with Jarman’s death if evidence supports it.

But Phelps said he’s confident that won’t happen.

“It was dismissed without prejudice, but I think that the evidence that we have clearly shows it was not him,” Phelps said. “And we would be able to overcome it if he were to be charged. I’m confident from our investigation that it was not Joe.”

Jarman grew up in Monroe, Washington, a small town outside Everett, said his stepfather, Lavern Jarman, who helped raise him from a young age.

“He was a popular kid,” Lavern Jarman said. “He played basketball, baseball, soccer. He went fishing with me, hunting, shooting.”

Daniel Jarman served five years with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq, his stepfather said.

After a stint living in Curlew, a small town in Ferry County, Jarman had recently purchased a house in Spokane Valley where he planned to raise his two sons, ages 5 and 7.

“He loved those boys more than anything,” Lavern Jarman said.

The family celebrated Christmas at Jarman’s new home a few days before he was attacked, his stepfather said.

Lavern Jarman said he couldn’t explain the circumstances of his son’s death. He, too, has heard conflicting accounts of what happened that night.

“I’m super frustrated over this,” he said. “I can’t believe that the police don’t have the right guy. It’s unbelievable to me. There were too many people around.”