By Kristin Netterstrom
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock)
Copyright 2007 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.
A Pulaski County prosecutor is expected to drop a public-intoxication charge today against a deceased paramedic whose arrest in September led Sherwood to cancel its ambulance service contract.
Amy Elizabeth Smith of Conway was expected to go to trial today in Pulaski County District Court for her misdemeanor charge of public intoxication. But Smith, 38, died Jan. 25 at her home.
A coroner’s report sent to Pulaski County prosecutors states Smith’s death apparently resulted from a possible prescription medicine overdose, although the final cause is pending on the outcome of a toxicology report from the state Crime Laboratory.
Smith, whose obituary said she had been a paramedic for more than 12 years, was arrested Sept. 25 after she responded to an emergency call about a possible overdose at a Sherwood home. Sherwood police officers who also responded to the call noticed Smith had slurred speech and couldn’t keep her balance. Smith told officers, according to the police report on her arrest, that she hadn’t slept in 72 hours and had taken medication for seizures and sinus problems.
Smith’s public-intoxication charge was transferred from Sherwood District Court to Pulaski County District Court in December. Smith pleaded innocent to the charge in January.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Colin Wall is expected to void the charge today in court. Prosecutors call the action “abated by death.” Metropolitan Emergency Management Services temporarily took over ambulance service in Sherwood on Oct. 10, 12 days after Sherwood notified Arkansas Emergency Transport that the city was canceling its contract for emergency ambulance service in the city.
Smith’s arrest and a combination of past experiences with the company’s staffing level led thenmayor Bill Harmon to cancel the city’s five-year contract, which started in August 2005. AET had a contract with Sherwood dating back to at least 1995. The city has since signed a five-year contract with MEMS.