The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday agreed to allow the attorney for a Saline County man convicted of possession of a controlled substance to withdraw from the case after the attorney ruled there were no grounds for an appeal.
Following a trial in October 2024, Jeffery Lance H. Duckworth, 39, was convicted of possession of methamphetamine after he threw a bag containing 0.3495 grams of substance to the ground in front of a police officer who had responded to a call that Duckworth had an axe. He was subsequently charged as an habitual offender with aggravated assault on a family or household member and terroristic threatening.
During the trial, the officer’s bodycam footage was shown, and it showed Duckworth saying “that’s all I had. I promise.”
The charges of aggravated assault and terroristic threatening were dismissed, and Duckworth was sentenced to 13 years in prison on drug charge.
While Duckworth’s attorney wrote that there were no grounds that would justify an appeal, Duckworth listed several factors, but Duckworth did not raise any of them in circuit court so they could not be considered.
Duckworth is serving his sentence at the Cummins Unit and will be eligible to apply for parole in June 2027.
