FIRST GRADUATE OF DRUG COURT BOOKED ON METH, 'POT' COUNTS

FAYETTEVILLE -- Almost three months after becoming the first graduate of
Washington County's fledgling drug court, Robert Ray Poindexter was
arrested early Sunday morning on methamphetamine and marijuana charges.
Poindexter, 44, was the first defendant admitted to the Washington County
Drug Treatment Court, which combines judicial punishment with
substance-abuse treatment for nonviolent drug offenders who aren't dealers.
Television and newspaper reporters at Poindexter's Oct. 31 graduation
watched as he cried and gave Circuit-Chancery Judge Mary Ann Gunn a hug.
News of Poindexter's arrest was a hard blow to those who supported him
through the program's regimen of several drug tests and counseling sessions
each week. It also came at a time when future funding for the new program
is uncertain.

"By all accounts he had really turned his life around and was doing quite
well, so I'm shocked," said Rusty Hudson, the Fayetteville attorney who
represented Poindexter in drug court.

Poindexter has no phone and could not be reached for comment. He enrolled
in the program Jan. 24, 2000, to avoid prosecution on methamphetamine and
marijuana charges after an arrest Nov. 8, 1999. The father of three was
also a father figure to many of his fellow drug court defendants and was
assigned to mentor one of them.

In August, Poindexter and a group of fellow defendants built picnic tables
and benches for Decision Point because, they said, the clinic's chairs were
rickety. Poindexter was also the first to admit it was a struggle to stay
clean. On July 14 he was ordered to undergo three weeks of residential
treatment at Decision Point, a substance-abuse clinic in Springdale, after
he admitted snorting a line of meth with friends.

"Why did the relapse occur?" Gunn asked him at an Aug. 4 drug court
hearing. "I thought that I was stronger than I was. I went where I
shouldn't have been, and I stayed around people that I shouldn't have been
with, and I wasn't paying attention to what I had been learning and been
taught in my classes." "How easy is it for that to happen again?" Gunn
asked. "It's not going to happen again" he said.

As his graduation approached, Poindexter said, he worried about leaving the
program. "I'm kind of dreading when it's done," he told Gunn at a Sept. 25
hearing. "... It'll be a big change."

About 15 fellow drug court defendants applauded at Poindexter's graduation.
At a celebration at Decision Point, John Threet, Washington County's chief
deputy prosecutor, congratulated Poindexter and remarked that he must feel
a lot of pressure.

Threet said Poindexter's arrest was "horribly disappointing," but added,
"This doesn't kill the program. I'm not going to give up on the program
because of one failure."

Larry Counts, Decision Point director, said his organization tracks
graduates for research but doesn't supervise or test them. Graduates are
encouraged to attend 12-step counseling sessions such as Narcotics
Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous.

Decision Point staff will study Poindexter's case to see if any changes in
the program are warranted, Counts said.

In the long run, Counts expects 70 to 80 percent of drug court graduates to
stay clean and out of trouble.

"Relapse, unfortunately, is part of the recovery process," Counts said.
"It's not a requirement, but it does happen."

Gunn couldn't talk about Poindexter's case because it could end up in her
court. She said she was warned when she became the county's first drug
court judge to expect failures. Recidivism rates for drug courts nationwide
are about 30 percent, she said.

"I think we have our heads in the sand if we think we're going to get a
success rate of 100 percent," Gunn said. "But it's a hard pill to swallow
when you've spent so much time and effort in the program." The program
faces other uncertainties, including its funding, after being passed over
for a $500,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant in October. A $125,000
grant that's been paying for participants' services runs out in July.
Poindexter was arrested about 1:30 a.m. Sunday near the Wal-Mart
Supercenter in Springdale. Wal-Mart employees told police Poindexter bought
several boxes of antihistamine tablets and was concealing items in his
jacket, according to a police report.

An officer stopped Poindexter for a traffic violation and found 192
antihistamine tablets and 35 ephedrine tablets, both of which are commonly
used as ingredients in methamphetamine, the report said. Police also found
less than an ounce of methamphetamine and less than an ounce of marijuana
in two film canisters taped to the body of the truck near the battery, the
report said.

Poindexter was booked into the Washington County jail and released on
$2,500 bond.

Gunn said she plans to discuss the arrest with other drug court defendants
at a hearing Tuesday.

"I'm sure it will affect the morale of the class," she said. Three other
defendants have graduated from drug court. Fellow graduate Andre Ward, who
became friends with Poindexter in the program, said he saw Poindexter in a
store a few weeks ago and thought he was doing well. Ward, who works at a
wheel manufacturer in Springdale, said it surprised and disappointed him to
hear of Poindexter's arrest, but it didn't discourage him.

"You're always taught and you come to learn that you make your own
decisions," Ward said.