Arkansas Online

Man facing federal drug charges must stay in jail until trial

DALE ELLIS

A Pulaski County man indicted on drug conspiracy charges by a federal grand jury was denied bond Friday after a federal judge’s review of his detention order filed last November by a federal magistrate.

Edward Lee House Jr., 27, of Little Rock, was indicted along with 34 members or associates of the EBK (Every Body Killas) street gang and was denied bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe at a hearing Nov. 28. On Friday, U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Jr., in a de novo hearing — Latin for “anew,” a standard of review that doesn’t take into account previous decisions — ruled that House poses too great a danger to society to be allowed out of jail on pretrial release.

House’s attorney, Gregory Bryant of Little Rock, put House on the witness stand to testify after a discussion with Moody over the parameters of that testimony but pulled his client when cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters put House at risk of incriminating himself.

Before allowing House to take the stand, Moody warned him of the possible consequences of testifying and advised him to stick to generalizations in response

to his attorney’s questions to avoid opening the door to added scrutiny under cross-examination.

“If you choose to testify, anything you talk about will be subject to cross-examination,” Moody warned. “If you talk about a particular night or you talk about a particular event, you’re going to be subject to cross-examination on that night or that event.”

House was charged with aggravated robbery and theft of property in March 2017 in Faulkner County Circuit Court while he had charges of simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms and theft by receiving out of Pulaski County Circuit Court from 2016. In June of 2017, House was sentenced to five years’ probation on the Pulaski County charges. According to court records a mistrial was declared on the aggravated robbery and theft charges in Faulkner County Circuit Court in September 2020. House is scheduled to be retried in late March.

At Friday’s hearing, Bryant asked Moody to release House to the custody of his parents and allow him to go back to his job driving a truck between Little Rock and Dallas. He pointed to two rows in the gallery where House’s family was sitting, including his parents and grandparents, and he noted that House has two children as well.

House testified that in June 2017 he pleaded guilty to the Pulaski County charges, was sentenced to five years’ probation and was transferred on a detainer to Faulkner County to face the robbery and theft charges there. In December 2017, he said, he was released on $150,000 bond.

“Did you receive any warnings, any violations?” Bryant asked.

“Not until this charge,” House replied.

Bryant asked Moody if he were to question House about a pending charge in Pulaski County related to the federal indictment, “will you consider that opening the door?”

House was charged Nov. 4, 2022, in Pulaski County Circuit Court with possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to court records.

“I won’t know until I hear the question,” Moody said. “The best way for me to give you some guidance on that is to tell Mr. House not to answer the question until I’ve heard the question and I can tell you whether or not I think that would.”

Bryant said he wanted to ask about the pending charges in Pulaski County and a question about bond in the case.

“That all should be a matter of record,” Moody said.

House confirmed that he has pending charges in Pulaski County Circuit Court and that he is currently on bond but, following Moody’s instructions, he did not elaborate.

Under questioning by Peters, House said that he has been on bond on the Faulkner County charges for five years, since Dec. 17, 2017.

“How many times have you gotten into trouble with the law since you’ve been on bond?” Peters asked.

“Only this charge,” House replied. “I haven’t been in any trouble.”

Peters pointed out that House was on probation at the time he was arrested in June 2022 on drug and ammunition charges and when he was subsequently arrested a month later on marijuana charges. Then, after House first said he was not living with his parents at that time, then reversed himself, Peters noted that he had opened the door for questioning about a West 15th Street residence in Little Rock where House was picked up on a wiretap on June 18, 2022, as he was warned about an impending attack by rival gang members.

“I rented the property but I was not living there,” House said, saying maintenance issues prevented him from doing so.

“But you were staying there the night of June 18, 2022, weren’t you?” Peters asked, drawing another objection from Bryant, which Moody overruled.

“We were there for a period of hours but I was never staying there,” House replied, “not overnight.”

At that point Bryant broke in.

“If advising my client to take the Fifth [Amendment] nullifies this whole hearing,” he said, “I’d rather do that.”

“It’s perfectly appropriate for you to do that but it does come with consequences,” Moody warned.

The judge told Bryant that House’s inconsistent answers on where he was living and his claim he had had no problems while on supervised release had opened the door to Peters’ line of inquiry. He then struck House’s testimony and ruled that, based on the transcript of the November bond hearing, House would remain in jail pending trial. Bryant tried to argue that there were conditions that would ensure House’s good behavior but Moody remained firm.

“In light of the record before me,” he told the attorney, “we’re going to have to agree to disagree.”

Arkansas

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2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/281960316889648

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