Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jan 2001
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR)
Copyright: 2001 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Contact:  121 East Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201
Website: http://www.ardemgaz.com/
Forum: http://www.ardemgaz.com/info/voices.html
Author: Andy Davis, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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.
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