By Ray King
The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday said a request from an attorney who represented a man sent to prison could withdraw from the case since there were no evident grounds for an appeal.
The Drew County Circuit Court sentenced Eric Alan Coon, 29, to 10-years in prison after revoking his probation and in his filing, the attorney said there were no issues of arguable merit to support reversal of the court decision.
In 2017, Coon pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a defaced firearm and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to five years of probation. As a condition of that probation, he agreed not to commit a criminal act punishable by confinement in jail or prison, not to use, sell, distribute, or possess a controlled substance, to report to his probation officer and pay all fines, fees and costs.
In November, 2019, a petition was filed to revoke that probation alleging that he had committed a new offense, second-degree battery, used controlled substances including marijuana, amphetamines and cocaine, failed to report to his probation officer and failed to pay fines, fees and costs.
At a hearing, Coon’s probation officer testified that Coon had failed three drug screens and had only recently become current on his fines, fees and costs. There was also testimony from a police officer and from Coon’s father. The officer testified that he went to a house where Coon and his father lived in response to a reported stabbing and saw a significant amount of blood on the floor in the kitchen area. Coon’s father told the officer that his son had stabbed him and testified that he received a wound to the leg which required him to go to the hospital.
At the hearing however, he denied telling the officer that his son had stabbed him and said he suffered from PTSD, had taken some medication and gone to bed. He said he awoke to find his son pulling the knife out of his leg.
The appeals court ruling said that a preponderance of the evidence supported the second-degree battery charge. That included the father’s statement to police and later testimony that his son was the only one who could have stabbed him.
Coon is serving his sentence and will be eligible to apply for parole in September 2021.
