Judge John Putman found William Joshua Lewis not guilty on drug-related and firearms charges during a bench trial in Baxter County Circuit Court Tuesday.
Lewis is currently an inmate at the Randall William Correctional Facility in Pine Bluff serving time on an earlier conviction in three cases filed against him in this county. The 30-year-old Lewis pled guilty to the charges in those three cases in late September 2015.
Lewis was arrested on the charges that landed him in court Tuesday in early August last year at a residence in the Jordan area occupied by Sarah Lynn.
According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, officers initially went to the area to set up surveillance after receiving a tip that both Lynn and Lewis might be at the residence. The officers were attempting to serve a felony warrant on Lewis at the time
The officers reported that their position was compromised when Lynn spotted them. When she spoke to the officers at that point, she was reported to have denied knowing the whereabouts of Lewis, telling them that they were fighting and that Lewis was seeing another woman.
Two days later, parole/probation officers returned to the residence also seeking Lewis. The officer then performed a compliance check on the home since Lynn herself was on probation and found Lewis in the bathroom hiding behind a shower curtain.
According to the affidavit, the officers located drugs, as well as digital scales, multiple smoking devices, a syringe and a handgun during their search.
Lynn, who is currently serving time in the Community Corrections Center in West Memphis on charges stemming from the event last August, testified Tuesday that she was the sole occupant of the mobile home and that all of the drug-related items belonged to her and not Lewis. She also claimed that a handgun found in a slit in a mattress, belonged to her as well. She reluctantly testified that the gun had been given to her by her brother for protection.
Lynn told the court that when police came to her home on August 10th last year, Lewis was there only to pick up a prescription for antibiotics that had been written for him after a recent motorcycle accident. She said she had the prescription as well as his discharge papers since she had been the one who had taken him to the hospital following the wreck.
She denied that Lewis lived with her in the mobile home or that he had any interest in the property that she said belonged to her aunt. She said to her knowledge Lewis was living with his employer at the time.
Andrew Bailey, who represented Lewis said that the state had not put on evidence that would prove that Lewis lived at the mobile home, or that any of the drug-related items found in the trailer were his or were under his control.
Lewis continues to have an active criminal case in Baxter County Circuit Court unrelated to the August events.
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