The people charged with involvement in the murder of then 35-year-old Cody Stradford were all on the docket of Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division for the session on Monday.
It is the most recent of numerous appearances made by the four defendants in the years since they were charged in the case. The pace of the case has become increasingly frustrating for prosecutors and judges.
It has been slightly more than five years since Stradford’s body was found in his burned-out vehicle.
Since that time, there have been at least 57 continuances sought by defense attorneys in the cases.
During a court session July 21, Judge John Putman asked from the bench, “are we ever going to get these cases tried?”
The January 5 “appearances” were basically routine “status reports” on the defendants.
The attorneys representing 33-year-old Ryan Lindsey told the court it was estimated Lindsey’s trial could take a maximum of three weeks. It was also reported that in the most recent psychological examination, Lindsey was found fit to proceed.
Circuit Judge Andrew Bailey, who has recently taken over criminal cases in Baxter and Marion Counties from Judge Putman, said he intended to have Lindsey’s case go to trial sometime this year.
As he has done in the past, Lindsey refused to leave his cell to appear on an electronic hookup between the jail and courtroom. His lawyers reported they had spoken to him Sunday night.
On December 16, 2020, Stradford’s body was found in his burned-out vehicle just off Old Arkana Road south of Mountain Home.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the car appeared to have been there for days.
Suspects were developed, arrested and charged in the case.
Court records show that some of the suspects have picked up additional charges after being accused in the murder case.
Ryan Lindsey
Lindsey is the most well-known to local law enforcement and will be the first to go before a jury. His record dates back to 2010 when he was in his teens.
The state is seeking the death penalty in Lindsey’s case.
After being identified as a suspect in the Stradford murder, Lindsey was arrested in Texas driving a vehicle that he is charged with stealing and returned to Baxter County.
Lindsey remains an inmate in the Baxter County jail. His bond is set at one million dollars.
In all, Lindsey has eight other open felony cases, five of those cases contain charges lodged against him while in jail for causing disturbances, having contraband items in his cell, attacking jail staff and other allegedly violent acts.
One case was opened after a search of Lindsey’s cell on December 17 last year in which a large number of contraband items were discovered.
The items included a razor blade, a large bag of prescription medicines which Lindsey was supposed to take but saved instead, laundry bags, multiple blankets, a small metal nail file and the white uniform that he wore during his latest stay in the state prison system.
According to the probable cause affidavit in the contraband case, the walls of Lindsey’s cell were “papered” with nude photos and photos of various tattoos that were described as being torn out of magazines.
There was no explanation in the probable cause affidavit as to how so many prohibited items made it into the jail or how they were not detected when apparently being so openly displayed.
DEATH CASES LENGTHY
It is not unusual for death penalty cases to take more time because the ultimate penalty is being sought.
The latest holdup in Lindsey’s case came late last August when defense attorneys asked that Lindsey be given a mental evaluation.
One of Lindsey’s attorneys said he had been on the phone with his client in late April last year when Lindsey had “made statements and displayed behavior that gave counsel concern regarding his mental fitness.”
The attorney said the behavior and comments were unlike any that had been displayed by Lindsey in previous meetings.”
The request was granted, even though the event reported to have triggered it happened more than four months before the defense eventually filed paperwork with the court.
In Arkansas, requests for psychological examinations can take more than six months to complete.
The law requires all activity to cease in a case after a psychological evaluation has been ordered. It remains in an inactive status until the report on the evaluation is received by the court.
According to court documents, the doctor who most recently examined Lindsey initially reported he was unable to form an opinion because Lindsey refused to cooperation.
The doctor recommended that Lindsey be admitted to the Arkansas State Hospital in Little Rock for a period of observation and evaluation.
An evaluation has now been provided showing Lindsey is fit to proceed, his lawyers told the court.
Lawyers have also come and gone and each change has required the trial to be continued so the new defense team could familiarize itself with the case.
For a time, Lindsey was in prison in East Arkansas on an earlier charge that made meeting with him difficult and more time consuming than normal, according to his lawyers.
Once it begins, it is estimated that the Lindsey trial could take up to two weeks.
If Lindsey is sentenced to death, there will be an automatic appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
The state’s highest court is required to review the entire history of a death penalty case, including the trial proceedings, evidence and instructions to the jury.
The purpose of the review is to ensure that the lower court properly imposed the death penalty and that there were no significant errors or irregularities in the trial or sentencing process.
A defendant cannot waive the automatic review by the state supreme court.
Lindsey is being represented by attorneys from the Digby Law Firm in Benton (Saline County).
Three other people were arrested and charged in connection with the Stradford murder:
Skylar Brazil – The 43-year-old Brazil is identified in the probable cause affidavit as the person who joined Lindsey in beating Stradford after he had been “lured” to a residence located along Creswell Street that was reported to belong to Brazil.
The assault is alleged to have occurred in a “walkout basement.”
Since being charged in the murder case, Brazil has been jailed on a charge of rape in Benton County.
He is currently being held in the Benton County Detention Center on a one-million-dollar bond with a no bond hold from Baxter County.
In the Benton County case, Brazil is alleged to have had inappropriate sexual contact with a female who was younger than 14-years-old at the time of the alleged offense. The incident was originally reported to the Siloam Springs Police Department in mid-September 2020 but the case was not filed until late April this year.
The rape charge filed against Brazil is a Class Y felony, the most serious classification of crime in Arkansas not punishable by death.
A person convicted of a Class Y felony can be sentenced to life in prison.
Brazil appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court on an electronic hookup from the Benton County jail. He mentioned he has seen little of his lawyer in the last two months regarding the murder charges against him.
Judge Bailey said, given the seriousness of the charges against Brazil, that type of infrequent contact was “unacceptable.”
Allison Cunningham – The 47-year-old Cunningham was arrested in a U.S./Mexico border town in Texas. Cunningham and Lindsey were reported to have fled there after Stradford was killed.
Cunningham is an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center and her bond is set at one million dollars. The state is seeking the death penalty in her case.
Ashley Hendricks – The 40-year-old Benton County resident is also charged with murder. She and Cunningham were both said to have stood by while Stradford was being beaten by Lindsey and Brazil.
Hendricks had felony cases open in two counties – Benton and Madison – at one point, but those cases have been dismissed, according to electronic court records. She is now free on $250,000 bond.
MOTIVE NOT OUTLINED
The investigative record does not clearly define a motive in the case, although it does appear that the people who attacked Stradford were making accusations against him.
At one point during the attack, Stradford was reported to have been overheard saying, “No, I did not do that.” He was also said to have pleaded with Lindsey and Brazil to stop assaulting him.
Three of the accused in the Stradford murder case have fairly long histories of run-ins with the law. In total, court records show that more than 20 felony cases have been opened on them through the years.
Lindsey and Brazil lead the list.
The four people charged in Stradford’s murder have or had felony cases open in Baxter, Benton, Madison and Washington Counties.
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