Johnson v. State

APPEAL FROM THE SALINE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 63CR-17-861] HONORABLE GRISHAM PHILLIPS, JUDGE

Jones Law Firm, by: F. Parker Jones II and Vicram Rajgiri, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Jacob H. Jones, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

BRANDON J. HARRISON, CHIEF JUDGE

The Saline County Circuit Court found that Preston Johnson had violated the conditions of his suspended imposition of sentence (SIS) and sentenced him to three years' imprisonment. He now appeals, arguing that the circuit court should have granted him jail-time credit for the time he served the suspended sentence. We affirm.

In January 2018, Johnson pled guilty to a charge of possession of firearms by certain persons, and he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment followed by three years' SIS. In December 2019, the State moved to revoke Johnson's SIS, alleging that he had violated the conditions of his SIS by (1) absconding from parole supervision from November 2018 to March 2019 and from June 2019 to November 2019; (2) being arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine and failing to notify the prosecuting attorney's office of his arrest; and (3) using controlled substances, specifically amphetamines.

The circuit court convened a revocation hearing on 24 January 2020. Officer

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Baneffa Townsend, a parole and probation agent, testified that she was Johnson's supervisor and that Johnson was on parole and had an SIS. She explained that Johnson had been released from the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) in July 2018 and that since that time, he had absconded from supervision four times, had tested positive three times for amphetamines, and had been dropped from recommended substance-abuse treatment due to lack of attendance.

Corporal Joey Shamlin, an officer with the Saline County Sheriff's Department, testified that he came into contact with Johnson in March 2019 after Johnson's name "popped up" in a narcotics investigation. Shamlin and other officers went to Johnson's residence, and after observing Johnson pull into his driveway, Shamlin pulled in behind him. Shamlin placed Johnson under arrest because he had an absconder warrant. Corporal James Bell, also at the scene, interviewed a female passenger in Johnson's vehicle, and she told Bell that Johnson had methamphetamine in the vehicle. Bell found a small baggie of what was believed to be methamphetamine in the hiding place described by the passenger. Finally, Deputy Tyler Lovell testified that he took possession of the substance found in the...