A Jones County defendant took the argument for a probation modification too far and received a contempt of court charge and an additional 30 days to serve in jail.
Ian Anthony Arender was on the Feb. 28 criminal motion day calendar for a probation violation stipulation and argument, which typically means the state and probationer agree on the violation but not on the modification of the probation.
Arender was represented by public defender Tom O’Donnell, but the defendant did the majority of the arguing himself. The state was represented by District Attorney Wright Barksdale, however most of the defendant’s argument was directed at Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradley. At the conclusion of the modification proceeding, the judge found Arender in contempt of court and sentenced him to serve 30 days. The order states that, once that sentence is served, the defendant may enter and complete 180 days in a state probation detention center abiding by all rules of that facility. Upon completion, he is to enter and complete an in-patient substance abuse treatment facility, abiding by all rules and regulations of that facility.
It is notable that the in-patient substance abuse treatment facility was what Arender and his attorney were asking for when the proceeding began.
The case was styled by Barksdale and began with a list of Arender’s probation violations that appeared to number four, possibly five since 2017, including numerous incidents of not reporting, moving without probation’s knowledge and positive drug tests.
The argument O’Donnell presented to the court was his client served 20 months while waiting for a trial on charges for which he was found not guilty.
Arender was sentenced in Jones County Superior Court Aug. 13, 2015, to three years for possession of methamphetamine and 10 years for the crime of cruelty to children in the second degree. The counts were ordered to run concurrently for a total of 10 years. He was also sentenced to five years for the offense of theft by taking. Both sentences were to be served on probation following completion of the Department of Corrections Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program.
O’Donnell again asked the court to consider the time his client spent in jail before one of his cases was dismissed.
“He needs help, but he needs to get credit for what happened to him,” the defense attorney said.
The district attorney said, because of the number of Arender’s violations, he considered asking for a full revocation to prison, but he felt the defendant could benefit from going through the RSAT program again.
“I think we can agree, very few people successfully complete in-patient treatment programs,” he said.
Barksdale went on to say Arender’s history suggests he would not be capable of completing in-patient treatment. One of his probation violations was failure to report to a Matrix group treatment program.
“What guarantees would we have? I believe the most appropriate sentence is RSAT,” he said.
Bradley asked the defendant what he wanted, and Arender said an in-patient treatment program. The defendant attempted to persuade the court that he had only three violations by continuing to argue his versions of the incidents leading to the violations.
The judge said what was before the court was a constant pattern of not reporting to probation nor following conditions, then he addressed the defendant. “You are your own worst enemy and don’t have the capability of getting your act together,” he said. “You don’t want to change, and you won’t unless you are forced. You are rationalizing and repeating the same behavior over and over.”
However, Bradley said he was going to give Arender what he wanted.
“You are the classic case of decorating the hole you have dug for yourself,” the judge added.
After Arender was ordered to go to the PDC for 180 days before the inpatient treatment, he began railing against the judge and the sentence. O’Donnell and Bradley attempted to silence the defendant, but he would not stop, even after being charged with contempt.
