Arkansas running back found guilty

Posted 7:21AM on Friday 12th July 2002 ( 22 years ago )

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS - Arkansas running back Cedric Cobbs was found guilty Thursday of marijuana possession, driving while intoxicated and speeding. Cobbs faces sentencing on Aug. 6. Cobbs can be fined between $500 and $800 for the DWI charge, said Paul Suskie, the North Little Rock city attorney who tried the case. He also could receive a $100 fine for speeding and probation for the marijuana conviction. Suskie said terms of the probation also could include an order not to leave the state. Second Division District Court Judge Barry Sims will determine the sentence. Sims took only a few seconds to find Cobbs guilty of three of the four charges. A driving without proof of insurance ticket was dropped after Cobbs provided proof. Cobbs was present at North Little Rock Traffic Court, but never testified during the proceeding. He had no comment as he left the trial. However, as his mother, Glendree Cobbs, left North Little Rock Traffic Court, she said, ``The judge didn't listen to anything at all.'' Cobbs was suspended from the football team after his arrest. He later agreed to 15 conditions to remain on the team and went through spring practice. Arkansas officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday evening on whether the guilty verdicts affect Cobbs' status with the team. ``I think the evidence was overwhelming,'' Suskie said after the trial. ``I think with the evidence presented, the decision was correct.'' One of Cobbs' lawyers, Darrell Brown, said he planned to appeal. ``I hope the judge made the decision based on what he heard,'' Brown said. ``I think that result was not one that we thought was justifiable by the facts. We think that ultimately, at least on some of the points that we lost on, we'll be able to prevail.'' The trial was put on hold for several hours while Cobbs' lawyers, Brown and Ron Davis, argued to suppress statements the player made to police after his arrest Jan. 8. The lawyers also wanted to suppress evidence from a urine analysis and vehicle search conducted after a state trooper initially pulled Cobbs over to cite him for speeding. The urine test showed that Cobbs had smoked marijuana before the traffic stop, police said. After five hours of testimony, Sims rejected all three motions. On Jan. 8, Cobbs was stopped for going 73 mph in a 60 mph zone on Interstate 30 in Little Rock, according to a state police report. Cooney said he smelled marijuana coming from Cobbs' car. The trooper also said Cobbs acknowledged smoking marijuana. The marijuana-possession charge and the traffic tickets were combined in one trial in North Little Rock court. A state crime lab report said that while Cobbs' urine test was positive for marijuana, technicians couldn't suggest a specific level of impairment nor say when he had smoked it. As a freshman, Cobbs was the MVP of the 2000 Cotton Bowl after leading the Razorbacks to a victory over Texas.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/7/192568