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GARRETT CONVICTION AFFIRMED

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:04 AM CDT

The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected the claims of a Desha County man who is serving a 15-year prison sentence after being convicted of delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church in 2007.

The court rejected claims by Jeremy Garrett, 20, that a videotape of the sale did not clearly show that delivery was made, and that the actions of a confidential informant who bought the drugs “corrupted the chain of custody.”

Testimony at Garrett’s trial indicated 10th Judicial Task Force Officer Trent Vollmer paid confidential informant James Johnson $50 to make a controlled drug buy in Dumas on April 24, 2007, and checked Johnson’s pockets and vehicle to make sure there were no weapons, drugs or money before the buy was made.

Vollmer also fitted Johnson with a video camera, turned it on, and gave Johnson $20 to make the buy. After Johnson returned with a suspected crack cocaine rock, Vollmer sent it to the State Crime Laboratory who confirmed that the rock was cocaine.

Johnson testified that he called Garrett and bought $20 worth of cocaine from him at an apartment provided by the Desha County Sheriff’s Department.

In his appeal, Garrett claimed that the videotape “showed only something happening and that whether money actually changed hands was unknown.”

Garrett also claimed that Johnson could have planted the cocaine between the time of the alleged transaction and the time he gave it to Vollmer.

“It was up to the jury to determine the credence of Johnson’s testimony as to what he saw, heard and experienced,” Appeals Court Judge Rita Gruber said in the court ruling. “We hold that his testimony, if believed by the jury, constituted direct evidence sufficient to show that Garrett delivered cocaine.”

On the claim that Johnson could have planted the cocaine, Gruber said that Garrett did not object to its introduction as evidence when he had the first opportunity, making that argument moot.

Grrett is serving his sentence at the Delta Regional Unit and will be eligible to apply for parole on Sept. 24, 2012.

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