A young Western Grove man was locked up in the Marion County jail for a lengthy period as a pre-trial detainee and when finally released was presented with an $18,250 pay-for-stay bill for the time he was behind bars.
SYSTEM IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Nicholas Jackson is suing to have the pay-for-stay-system declared a violation of the 8th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
According to Jackson’s motion, the pay-for-stay system violates both the U.S. and Arkansas Constitutions in that it condones the imposition of excessive fines, is cruel and unusual punishment and allows for imprisonment for civil debts.
There is also no uniform application in the way the Arkansas pay-for-stay statute is used, according to the suit.
In Arkansas, about 35 of the 75 counties collect pay-for-stay fees.
If indigent defendants are not able to pay significant pay-for-stay bills they could face additional incarceration for nonpayment.
The motion Jackson’s public defender filed points out that a major pay-for-stay bill has the potential to create a “cycle of incarceration, fine imposition, defaulting on payments and re-incarceration based on the defaults.”
The Arkansas Code allowing imposition of pay-for-stay fees was “arbitrarily and capriciously applied in Jackson’s case.”
MC NOT FOLLOWING ORDINANCE
It is also alleged in Jackson’s lawsuit that Marion County has not followed its own pay-for-stay ordinance by not requiring the sheriff to present an invoice to the prosecuting attorney containing details of the pay for stay fee being charged to a defendant. A judge can then hear the defendants side regarding the imposition of the pay-for-stay expenses.
STATE SAYS COURTS HAVE UPHELD SYSTEM
In the state’s response to Jackson’s lawsuit, a number of court decisions upholding the pay-for-stay-system are outlined, including those rendered by the Arkansas Supreme Court and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.
In 2009, Arkansas’ highest court ruled in a Marion County case that the lower court had not committed an error by assessing the fee.
The pay-for-stay ordinance that passed muster then is the same one used today, according to the state’s response to the Jackson lawsuit.
The state cites cases in which the pay-for-stay system was declared not to be an additional punishment but intended only to “defray costs for incarceration.”
It is claimed in the state’s response that Jackson is responsible for part of his pay-for-stay bill since he asked to be sentenced by a judge, not the jury. He was sentenced to a year in jail on his misdemeanor convictions.
The state contends if he had not changed strategies, “he might have been sentenced to less time and would have had a smaller pay-for-stay bill.”
Jackson is also in trouble in Missouri in a case that closely mirrors the one in Marion County. He faces charges stemming from a violent assault on a former girlfriend who lived in the Dora area in early April.
The victim in the Missouri case said he had checked her cellphone and became angry “over a message someone had sent me.”
Jackson was allegedly also using various means to harass the ex-girlfriend in Missouri including posting fake, derogatory information on her Facebook profile.
THE CRIME
Jackson was arrested October 1, 2020, after then Marion County Sheriff Clinton Evans and a deputy responded to a physical altercation report at an address along Pigeon Roost Lane.
When the officers arrived, Jackson was spotted walking down the front steps of the residence and onto the lawn.
When Jackson was ordered to the ground, he screamed, “kill me, I want you to kill me.” He is reported to have repeated the request several times.
Jackson continued to ignore commands and was eventually “taken to the ground.”
When interviewed, the victim said she woke up to knocking at the side door of the house. She said when she opened the door, Jackson, who was described as her ex-boyfriend, was standing there. He was described as crying and holding donuts and flowers.
In order to prevent Jackson from coming into the house, the victim said she attempted to block the door but the 6’3″ Jackson pushed his way in, grabbed the victim by the throat shoved her back until, “until I bent over the back of the couch.”
The victim said Jackson accused her of seeing someone else which she denied. She claimed Jackson threatened to “kill her in front of her kids.” He was then reported to have grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her toward the children’s room.
Jackson was alleged to have said if officers came to the house “he would have them shoot him.”
The then 26-year-old victim was eventually able to break free and to alert 911 that she needed help.
The deputy put Jackson in his patrol car to drive him to the Marion County Law Enforcement Center. He reported talking to Jackson in an effort to calm him down.
As the trip progressed, the deputy reported Jackson went silent. When the deputy drove his car into the sallyport at the Marion County Law Enforcement Center he saw Jackson’s head tilted downward toward the floorboard.
The deputy reported lifting Jackson up and discovering a black shoelace wrapped around his neck and tied to the “cage,” a protective device separating the driver from those in the backseat of the patrol car.
Jackson was taken to Baxter Health and admitted.
When Jackson was released, the process of dealing with his case began. An attorney from the Public Defenders Office was assigned to represent Jackson.
It was not until early May this year that a jury trial was held. Jackson had initially been charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, breaking or entering, terroristic threatening, two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, resisting arrest and criminal trespassing.
For a number of reason, including conducting mental examinations, about 3 years and 7 months elapsed between Jackson’s arrest and his jury trial.
The state dismissed a number of the charges and the jury acquitted Jackson on the more serious charges against him and found him guilty of only three misdemeanors. He was sentenced to one year in the county jail and fined $7,500. He was also ordered to pay the daily charge for the time he had been in jail.
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