Trial delayed for Jefferson County clerk accused of forgery

PINE BLUFF — A judge has delayed the scheduled trial for the Jefferson County clerk, who is accused of improperly giving raises to employees.

The trial for Patricia Royal Johnson was set to begin Thursday, but Special Judge John Langston rescheduled it until Feb. 22 at the request of a special prosecutor and Johnson’s attorney.

Johnson was charged in March with 10 counts of forgery, one count of abuse of public trust and four counts of felony theft of property between $ 5,000 and $ 25,000. The charges came after the Arkansas Legislative Audit reported that Johnson paid more than $ 60,000 in bo-

nuses to employees without asking the Quorum Court, which is required by law.

Her attorney has said he’s confident Johnson will be cleared of the charges.

Arkansas court tosses conviction in woman’s meth case

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the conviction of a woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after giving birth to a baby with methamphetamine in his system.

Melissa McCann- Arms, 39, was convicted by a jury in Polk County after she and her son tested positive for meth when she gave birth at a Mena hospital in November 2012. She was convicted of a felony crime called introduction of controlled substance into body of another person.

In January, the Arkansas Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, ruling that even if the statute doesn’t apply to unborn children, McCann- Arms still transferred the drug to her child in the moments between his birth and when hospital staff cut the umbilical cord.

But Arkansas’ highest court reversed the conviction and dismissed the case, ruling there is no evidence McCann- Arms directly introduced methamphetamine into her baby’s system by causing the child to ingest or inhale it. Likewise, there is no evidence of an ongoing transfer of methamphetamine in McCann- Arms’ system after the child was born, the court ruled.

“The jury would thus have been forced to speculate that Arms was ‘ otherwise introducing’ the drug into the child at that point,” the ruling states. “When a jury reaches its conclusion by resorting to speculation or conjecture, the verdict is not supported by substantial evidence.”

The court also ruled state law does not criminalize the passive bodily processes that result in a mother’s use of a drug entering her unborn child’s system.

“Our construction of criminal statutes is strict, and we resolve any doubts in favor of the defendant,” the decision states. “The courts cannot, through construction of a statute, create a criminal offense that is not in express terms created by the Legislature.”

Farah Diaz- Tello, a staff attorney with the New Yorkbased National Advocates for Pregnant Women, had urged the court to reverse McCann- Arms’ conviction and said the decision sends a message to state prosecutors about expanding the law beyond what was intended by state lawmakers.

“We’re extremely happy for the outcome and glad the court did the right thing,” Diaz- Tello said.

A spokesman for the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office, Judd Deere, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment on the ruling.

Arkansas man sentenced for shooting wife at national park

FORT SMITH — An Arkansas man has been sentenced to more than 18 years in prison for shooting and wounding his wife while they camped at a national park.

Court records show 52- yearold John Prickett Jr. of Alexander was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Fort Smith. As part of a plea deal, Prickett pleaded guilty in May to assault with intent to commit murder and using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Court records say Prickett and his wife were camping at the Buffalo River National Park in September 2014 when they began arguing and Prickett shot the woman multiple times, leaving her severely wounded.

Man killed, woman wounded in Rosebud shooting, man arrested

ROSEBUD — The White County Sheriff’s Office says one man was killed and a woman was wounded in a shooting in Rosebud and that the woman’s husband was arrested.

The sheriff’s office told reporters that 40- year- old Michael Hammond died at a hospital and the woman is hospitalized after being found about 2: 45 a. m. Thursday in the home where Hammond lived with the couple.

Authorities say only that the shooting was the result of a domestic disturbance and that the suspect is being held on $ 150,000 bail pending expected charges of first- degree murder and first- degree battery.

Judge grants extension for assessment of Arkansas hog farm

LITTLE ROCK — A judge is giving two federal agencies more time to assess the environmental impact of a northern Arkansas hog farm in the Buffalo National River watershed.

The Arkansas Democrat- Gazette reports a judge granted a three- month extension Wednesday to the U. S. Department of Agriculture Farm Services Agency and the U. S. Small Business Administration.

The agencies had asked for the extension, citing “an unexpectedly large” amount of public comments on a draft assessment of C& H Hog Farms in Mount Judea.

A lawsuit filed against the agencies in 2013 argued that a 2012 assessment was incomplete. The agencies were ordered to do a new assessment complying with the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The latest draft released this summer came to the same conclusion as the tossed- out study.