Photo: Jamie Lee Southard
A Calico Rock man facing drug and weapons charges appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jamie Lee Southard was informed of the new charges being filed against him and of his constitutional rights during an 8.1 hearing.
Rule 8.1 of the Rules of Criminal procedure require those arrested and not released on bond or by some other lawful means to be taken before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay.
In addition to the drug and weapons charges, Southard faces counts of violating the conditions of his probation handed down in previous cases.
As with many defendants coming before courts in Baxter County, Southard’s record reflects a cycle of being arrested on new charges while on probation or parole on earlier convictions. The new charges trigger the filing of revocation petitions by Arkansas Community Corrections officers, at times in multiple cases.
Southard’s record shows revocation petitions have been filed in two cases, one in 2016 and the other in 2018.
His latest arrest came July 26 when Baxter County deputies were dispatched to an address along Jordan Road. They were called to assist an agent from a bail bond company in looking for 44-year-old Chad Merriman.
Merriman is wanted on a failure to appear warrant issued in mid-January by the Izard County Circuit Court in an active drug case.
While at the residence, the bail bond agent told the deputies that a red vehicle had been there about 10 minutes before they arrived.
While the agent and deputies tried to make contact with the person being sought, the red vehicle drove by.
The deputies followed it in their patrol car, until it came to a closed privacy gate and stopped.
Deputies made contact with the occupants of the vehicle. Southard was identified as the driver.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the deputies reported smelling the “strong odor of burned marijuana” coming from the passenger compartment. Southard was found to have marijuana and a smoking pipe on his person. Methamphetamine was also found.
While he was being taken into custody, Southard told the deputies he was carrying a pistol. A fully loaded .22-caliber handgun was seized along with a set of brass knuckles.
A search of the passengers turned up nothing illegal.
On the way to the Baxter County jail, Southard told a deputy he had more methamphetamine hidden in his sock. Four small plastic bags were found, one of which still contained a white residue.
Because he had drugs and drug paraphernalia with him, Southard was charged with simultaneous possession of guns and drugs, a Class Y felony.
The Class Y felony is the most serious classification of crime in Arkansas not punishable by death.
He was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Southard is an inmate in the county jail with bond set at $25,000.
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