APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS DRUG CONVICTIONS OF PAIR

The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a lower court in
the case of two people convicted on charges of growing marijuana and
possession of drug paraphernalia.

In a decision written by Court of Appeals Judge Olly Neal, the court
overturned the convictions and ordered new trials for Jimmy Easley
and Vicky Wagner Easley, who each had been sentenced to 20 years in
prison. The two asked the appeals court to overturn their convictions
in Clark County Circuit Court because the trial judge, Circuit Judge
John A. Thomas, had improperly communicated with the jury after it
began deliberating. They also contended that the judge erred by
allowing the state to introduce as evidence 39 exhibits that
prosecutors failed to share with defense attorneys during pretrial
discovery.

Because the appeals court agreed that the trial judge had made a
mistake by communicating with the jury after it began deliberations,
it didn't issue a decision on the evidence challenge.

During deliberations, the jury sent two notes containing questions to
the trial judge. The appeals court said that the trial record does
not contain the jury's note or the court's answer to the question:
"We don't all agree on the verdict, what happens?"

The second note dealt with questions about a photograph and what it
represented. The court record showed that the photograph had been
withdrawn from evidence even though the jury had seen it.

"Absent a record of the actual exchange between the judge and the
jury, the state cannot overcome the presumption that the defendant
has been prejudiced," the appeals court ruled.

The appeals court ruled that the state failed to establish "what the
trial judge's note to the jury actually said" and held the judge's
action was prejudicial to the Easleys.