A Midway man had his probation revoked and was sentenced to six years in prison following a hearing in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday (March 13).
Several hearing dates have been set for 46-year-old Donald Hoyt III, but for various reasons, have been put off.
Hoyt appeared in court on March 10 but several issues arose and the hearing was cancelled. Circuit Judge John Putman said he would come to Mountain Home March 13 to conduct the hearing and that it would not be continued again.
After Judge Putman ruled in the case following testimony given in the hearing, Hoyt addressed the court and asked that he be given some time to arrange his affairs before being taken into custody.
Judge Putman denied the request.
TRAFFIC STOP ARREST
Hoyt was put on probation for five years after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a traffic stop in early 2022.
He was pulled over by an Arkansas State Trooper on Highway 62/412. The trooper said Hoyt’s vehicle had been speeding, crossed over the centerline and had a broken windshield.
When the trooper approached Hoyt, he is reported to have been “extremely nervous.”
The trooper reported that when he contacted his dispatcher, he was told Hoyt had an active warrant issued in Marion County for a probation violation. After the warrant was confirmed, Hoyt was arrested, according to the probable cause affidavit.
During an inventory of the Dodge pickup truck Hoyt was driving, the trooper reported locating three plastic bags containing a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
During one period of time leading up to his eventual plea, Hoyt decided to represent himself and began to file documents and make statements akin to the often-quasi-legal gibberish used by members of the Sovereign Citizens.
SOVEREIGN CITIZENS
In documents he filed with the court in the earlier case, Hoyt uses many phrases and terms that are often found in documents prepared and filed by people calling themselves Sovereign Citizens, or by those with access to the group’s material.
The “legal claims” most often reflect the offbeat beliefs of the group rather than established law.
CLAIMS NO JURISDICTION
In his motion to dismiss, for example, Hoyt said no contract exists which puts him in the court’s jurisdiction. He also claims that “every person is independent of all laws except those prescribed by nature.”
State laws and policies “are for corporations and not for people. I’m a living, breathing human being and not a corporate entity and have a certified copy of live birth that proves I’m alive,” Hoyt writes.
NEW CHARGES ALSO VIOLATED PROBATION
It is alleged that Hoyt broke the terms and conditions of his probation in the traffic stop case from the very beginning by not reporting for intake after his sentencing and continuing to evade supervision for some time.
Another violation of those terms and conditions came when Hoyt was arrested in mid-October last year when Baxter County sheriff’s deputies responded to the report of a physical domestic incident at an address along County Road 508.
When a deputy questioned the female victim, she said Hoyt had attacked her in a motor home that was parked adjacent to the residence.
The victim said the couple had left the residence and gone to the motor home about 4:00 a.m. to have “romantic interaction.” According to the probable cause affidavit, an argument began stemming from Hoyt’s belief that the female had been seeing other men.
The victim testified during the hearing Thursday. She said Hoyt hit her in the face multiple times and that he grabbed her around the neck. She was reported to have had a large bruise under her right eye and marks on her neck, shoulder and other extremities.
The victim had to stop her testimony several times when she became emotional. She said she and Hoyt had been going together for about six years but were in the process of breaking up at the time of the incident.
The woman told the court that she was “really afraid that he was going to kill me.”
Deputies found Hoyt in the motor home. When they knocked, he opened the door and came outside.
At the time of the incident Hoyt had a search waiver on file permitting warrantless searches of his person or property.
When they entered the motor home, which was registered to Hoyt, the deputies found a “sling type swing” hanging from the ceiling. They also reported finding “sexual devices” in the vicinity where the victim alleged the attack took place.
Deputies also found a .22-caliber rifle and ammunition for the gun. Hoyt is a convicted felon and not allowed to be around weapons.
Hoyt was charged with 2nd degree domestic battery, and possession of a firearm by a felon in the October case.
Court records show a number of criminal cases have been opened on Hoyt in Marion County as well. Court records show those cases are no longer active.
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