Photo: Jimmy Lynn Sutterfield Jr.
Following a four-hour bench trial in late January last year, Jimmy Lynn Sutterfield Jr. of Gassville was found guilty of several criminal charges and sentenced to six years in prison by Baxter County Circuit Judge John Putman. Three open cases were tried simultaneously in which Sutterfield’s charges included possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, theft and criminal mischief.
Sutterfield filed notice he intended to appeal his convictions. He changed his mind during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and announced he would drop his appeal.
His appeal had been delayed, when it was discovered the attorney handling the matter for Sutterfield had filed a timely notice of appeal in two of the cases, but inadvertently did not file such a notice for the third case.
Anna Runau was found guilty of criminal attempt to commit first degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Runau, 24, was charged following a stabbing at Buzzard Roost Marina that was reported Aug. 31, 2015.
Arkansas Department of Corrections records show Runau’s earliest possible parole date is scheduled for May 25, just four days after her 21-year-old sister Amber Runau is scheduled to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with a fatal stabbing.
Amber Runau faces a charge a of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of her 72-year-old wheelchair-bound neighbor. Amber’s defense attorney notified the court the defense planned to use mental disease or defect as a defense theory.
Photo: Brandi Michelle Vanamberg
A Gassville woman was sentenced to five years in prison on drug-related charges during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last week.
Forty-eight-year-old Brandi Michelle Vanamberg pled guilty to charges of possessing drug paraphernalia and attempting to smuggle a glass smoking pipe into the Baxter County jail.
A traffic stop on Jan. 20 led to Vanamberg’s charges. She was taken to the Baxter County jail and warned that if she had anything illegal in her possession, she could be charged with a felony.
She said she did not possess what could be considered contraband, but it was found during the booking process that she had concealed the smoking pipe inside her body.
Photo: Jacob Dale Langston
Jacob Dale Langston of Mountain Home, who has a criminal history stretching back 16 years, returned to Baxter County Circuit Court last week.
The 34-year-old Langston pled guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of drug and drug paraphernalia possession, fleeing and violating parole.
Mountain Home police arrested him in early December last year after officers responded to a local fast food restaurant to investigate what had been reported as possible drug activity.
When an officer ran a computer check on Langston and his passenger, 40-year-old Ashley Wile, Langston bailed out of the vehicle and tried to run but was caught.
A mental examination for first-degree murder suspect Amber Lea Runau to see if she is competent to stand trial and if she can be held criminally responsible in the death of her 72-year-old neighbor has been completed, it was announced Thursday in Baxter County Circuit Court.
In a November hearing, Circuit Court Judge John Putman ordered the 21-year-old Runau undergo evaluations to determine if she can help in her defense and if she can be held criminally liable for her alleged conduct.
Court officials now must await the results of the examination before the case can proceed. Should the results come back and indicate Runau is competent to stand trial in the killing of Sharon Adler, that may not be the end of the issue.