An attorney for convicted felon Cordero Foster who filed a no-merit appeal on behalf of his client will be allowed to withdraw from the case, the Arkansas Court of Appeals said Wednesday.
Foster, who was sentenced to probation in 2014, was seeking to overturn the decision by Circuit Court Judge Rob Wyatt Jr. to revoke that probation and sentence Foster to six years in the penitentiary. He had been placed on probation after pleading guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance-cocaine. A condition of that probation was that he not commit a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment, not use drugs or alcohol, report to his probation officer and pay fines and costs as ordered.
In January 2015, prosecutors filed a petition to revoke the probation on grounds that he had been charged with residential burglary and theft of property, had used drugs, was not reporting as ordered and had not paid his fines and fees. A supplemental petition in March said Foster had been charged with aggravated robbery, felon in possession of a firearm and theft by receiving.
Wyatt held a hearing on the petition to revoke in February 2016 and heard testimony from Pine Bluff Police Detective Mike Sweeney, who said Foster was one of the defendants in a case where an elderly couple were followed home from a grocery store and robbed. Sweeney also testified that he investigated a burglary in November 2014, where two televisions were taken. No one at the house was a smoker, but a cigarette butt found in the house contained Foster’s DNA. The televisions were found in a stolen vehicle nearby and Foster’s fingerprints were found in the vehicle.
Former Jefferson County Sheriff’s Sgt. and now-White Hall Police Investigator Sgt. Mickey Buffkin testified that he investigated an escape from the adult jail where Foster and another individual had helped each other remove their handcuffs and flee through an open bay door, injuring a guard. Wyatt ruled that Foster had violated the conditions of his probation; Foster’s attorney said in his motion to withdraw that the only court ruling that was adverse to Foster was the revocation of his probation.
Appeals Court Judge Brandon Harrison ruled that the appeal was without merit and affirmed Wyatt’s ruling.