Low bonds for high crimes frustrate coalition, cops


Jail bonds that are too low are a threat to the community and hinder criminal investigations, members of the Vance County Coalition Against Violence said Thursday night.

During a calm but intense discussion that included Vance Sheriff R. Thomas Breedlove and Henderson Police Chief Glen Allen, coalition members looked for ways they can make a difference to help keep suspects behind bars while they await trial for such serious crimes as shootings and slayings.

“If it would prevent bloodshed on the streets, let’s raise it to a million,” Breedlove said. “We’ve had enough.”

The immediate discussion came in response to the arrests of three men, including E-40 gang leader Ernest Hawkins, in connection with a kidnapping case last week that reportedly led to a shooting incident Wednesday afternoon on Chavasse Avenue. City Council member Elissa Yount, a Chavasse resident, described it Friday as “an Old West shootout.”

But the bigger issue of bond levels has been growing for some time. The Vance Organization to Implement Community Excellence has discussed bonds and plans to invite Chief District Judge Charles Wilkinson to meet with VOICE on the matter.

Wilkinson is responsible for the guidelines that set bond ranges for each crime, taking into account the circumstances of each case and the criminal history of the suspect. The magistrates apply those guidelines.

A district judge has the authority to lower or raise a bond outside the range set by the guidelines. The request for a bond review can come from the defendant or anyone else. In the case of Hawkins, an initial bond of $75,000 rose to $175,000 Thursday after the District Attorney’s Office asked for $200,000.

“If it was up to us to set bonds, they would be a whole lot higher,” Allen said, referring to law officers.

Only a murder charge or a refusal to be fingerprinted and photographed may result in a person being held without bond, the sheriff said. But even those circumstances are temporary. Within 96 hours, even a murder suspect can petition the court to set bond.

The purpose of a bond, Judge Henry Banks said in court Thursday, is not to hold a suspect, but to ensure the suspect returns to appear in court, Breedlove said.

Allen said there are two major statutory reasons for bond: to ensure a court appearance; and to protect the public or an individual. But a bond may not be used to punish someone who maintains a presumption of innocence pending a trial.

Marolyn Rasheed, who raised the bond issue Thursday night and at last week’s VOICE meeting, said it’s a major problem when murder suspects are walking the street.

“That just wipes me out,” she said. “That’s why I think we can’t get a whole lot of these murders solved.” Not only can those suspects intimidate witnesses in their own cases, but they also have a chilling effect on the willingness of other people to speak as witnesses to crimes.

People realize that the risk of retribution for being witnesses is too high, so they stay silent from the start, Rasheed said. “It’s a small community.”

“It bothers me terribly that we have people charged with killing people that make bond and are back on the streets before trial, and a trial can take years sometimes to get it to court,” Allen said. “I’m just as bothered, I assure you.”

One option is to seek federal charges when possible in cases involving drugs or guns, Allen said. Those people facing federal charges don’t walk free until trial.

“When the feds pick you up, they forget about you,” police Capt. Mike Davis said.

The Rev. Todd Hester of Cotton Memorial Presbyterian Church asked whether it would be worthwhile to send letters to Wilkinson asking for higher levels in the bond guidelines. Breedlove said such letters might help.

“It’s hard to set rules for bonds that are going to apply when there are so many different circumstances when people are arrested,” Allen said.

He couldn’t say whether the Coalition Against Violence could be effective either in persuading Wilkinson to increase the bond ranges or in being aggressive in appealing to District Court for bond increases. But he said the coalition would likely have better luck than law enforcement, which must learn to live with the frustration of low bonds.

Rasheed said the coalition will have to meet with Wilkinson to bring about change.

“We’re just trying to see if there’s any way we can prevent any more craziness from going on,” she said.