DISPARITIES IN PRESCRIBED BAILS RAISE QUESTIONS

Judges in Alabama follow a set of state-recommended general guidelines in
setting bail that some Calhoun County officials say is antiquated.

A glance at the state's guidelines shows a large disparity between bond
amounts for violent offenses and drug offenses.

At $50,000, the state's recommended maximum bond amount for murder seems
low compared with the $1 million recommended maximum for a drug pushing charge.

"The schedule (guideline) is too low in my opinion," said District Attorney
Joe Hubbard in response to questions about the contrast between bond
amounts. "The recommended schedule has been basically in the same position
as it has been for years and years and years.

"I don't want to do away with the concept of presumption of innocence, but
the numbers are too low."

Cynthia Whatley couldn't agree more.

A beautician by trade, she didn't give much thought to bond amounts until
her son, Demetrice, was stabbed multiple times Christmas Eve morning.

The Anniston mother of three has spent a greater part of the last two
months kneeling beside her comatose son's hospital bed at Regional Medical
Center.

A cassette player in his hospital room churns out gospel songs as Ms.
Whatley reads to her son. She wants to be there if the doctors need her,
she said, so she makes short trips to home and work between long hospital
visits.

Prayers for healing are sustenance in the rough times, Ms. Whatley said.
She has faith her son will wake from his sleep. It is a faith that has not
faltered though doctors have cautioned that Demetrice, 25, may remain
comatose indefinitely.

Whatley was stabbed as many as a dozen times while he was at home in bed.

The multiple stab wound victim slipped into a coma at about the same time
that his girlfriend, Bianca Irby, who was arrested and charged in
connection with the stabbing, stepped out of the Anniston City Jail on
$10,000 bond.

Charged with first-degree assault under the state's domestic violence
statute, Ms. Irby, 19, made bond on the Class A felony less than 14 hours
after police arrested her.

Excessive bail is barred by the Eighth Amendment. Bail is not designed to
be punitive. Its purpose is to get a defendant in court for trial or keep a
person in jail who may harm the public if released.

Judges consult the state's bond schedule as a guide when setting bail. The
schedule recommends $3,000 to $30,000 bail in Class A felonies, such as the
Whatley stabbing.

However, the recommended bond amount is not written in stone.

A judge can deviate from the recommendation but to do so requires
justification using 14 criteria established in the state's rules of
criminal procedure. Factors considered in determining bail include age,
community ties, character, prior criminal history, the degree of violence
or lack of it in the alleged commission of the offense.

"Every case is different and there are circumstances that call for (bail)
to be way above the (recommended) schedule or below it," explained District
Judge Gus Colvin, who sets a majority of the initial bonds in Calhoun County.

Using the states criteria, the court found that Ms. Irby was not a flight
risk and bond, in her charge, was set within the recommended range.

"I want that bond upped," said an emotional Ms. Whatley, as tears welled in
her eyes while she sat in the lobby of the RMC intensive care unit
surrounded by family.

"What in the hell were they thinking!" cried Ms. Whatley's oldest daughter,
Laquan. "They set (the bond) like it wasn't serious. I think someone should
have checked into the severity of it before they let her out."

Police have only heard the suspect's side of the story in the Whatley
stabbing, acknowledged Anniston Police Lt. James Reaves, who released few
details about the investigation. He said Ms. Irby claimed she stabbed her
boyfriend after he threatened her.

In Calhoun County, a number of much higher bonds were set for less violent
offenses in the weeks before and after the Whatley stabbing.

Two New York men who were charged with trafficking synthetic heroin
received $1 million bond each.

A man charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle, an incident in which
no one was injured, received a $50,000 bond.

A man charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling, an incident in which
no one was injured, received $25,000 bond.

A man accused of manufacturing methamphetamine was given a $1 million bond.

Two people arrested for possession of drugs during a raid of a
methamphetamine lab had bonds of $45,500 each. Bond was set at $50,000 for
another man arrested for drug possession offenses during that raid.

"Are drugs more important than someone's life?" Ms. Whatley asked - not
upset by the amounts involved in drug crimes but outraged at what she
perceives as low amounts for violent crimes.

"I think justice should be served in all cases," Ms. Whatley said, "but
(the state) shouldn't put so much emphasis on the one because both are very
important."

Relatives of slain Wellborn High School student Marcus Pugh understand the
outrage facing families like the Whatleys.

Pugh was killed Dec. 6 in what initial reports described as a drive-by
shooting.

Anniston police arrested and charged Phillip Fondren on the night of the
murder in connection with the shooting. Records show Fondren was released
on $48,000 bond less than 13 hours after the arrest.

"Donita (McElroy, Pugh's mother,) has spent every day trying to figure out
how somebody could be killed and the (person accused) let out. on such a
low bond," said Christy Farmer, a cousin of the slain student who spoke on
behalf of Mrs. McElroy.

"Donita has called public officials trying to figure out how to get the law
(bond recommendations) changed," Ms. Farmer said. "Her life goal now is
trying to get this law changed about how people can get out on such low
bail within (such a short period of time) after committing murder."

State guidelines recommend a bond ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 in murder
cases.

"That particular bond is adequate in that (Fondren's) case," said defense
attorney Randy Brooks, who is representing Fondren.

"He's a local person and there is no real risk of him not coming to court
to answer the charges," said Brooks, adding that the recommended state
guidelines are a sufficient tool in helping judges calculate bail.

The guidelines give a discretionary range that judges can go above or below
depending on the merits of an individual case, Brooks said.

"There are cases where a bond set within the schedule is too high," Brooks
said. A $2,500 bond may be out of reach for a defendant who is poor, he added.

District Attorney Hubbard said judges often are criticized unfairly when
they set bonds "because it appears to a person not familiar with the bond
schedule that they have been soft or lenient when in actuality they're
following what is recommended for that particular offense."

The district attorney advocates an overhaul of the current state bond
recommendations, which he said are too low in many cases.

Judges who set bonds outside of the recommended guides risk reprimands from
higher courts.

That was the situation last year for a Marion County Circuit judge who set
a $1 million bond for a woman accused in a triple homicide.

Failing to find "dramatic evidence" to support the high bond, the Alabama
Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the judge to set a more reasonable amount.

In that decision, the appeals court also established a second method for
calculating bail, which it called the "rough rule of thumb." Using that
method, the maximum sentence in years that the accused could face is
multiplied by $1,000.

The woman who was charged for three felony murders faced three life
sentences of 99 years each or 297 years total. Using the rough rule of
thumb, the appeals court suggested that $297,000 bail in the triple murder
case would be fair.

The state Supreme Court has cleared the way for much higher bonds in some
drug offenses.

"The reason for that," said Hubbard, "is those people who are in the
business of pushing drugs, selling drugs - particularly in large quantities
- - generally have a large amount of money and can make bond."

Drug offenders are typically higher flight risks than people charged with
violent crimes, Hubbard added.

"It's amazing the (state) Supreme Court has given us the green light for a
million dollar bond in trafficking and drug cases, but has not said that
would be a good amount in murder cases," said Calhoun County Circuit Judge
Samuel Monk.

Judges have different philosophies in setting bonds, Monk said. "But all of
us are required to start an analysis with the bond schedule (recommended
state guidelines).

"When we get to violent crimes I can see how people don't understand
because a lot of people who work with the schedule don't understand what
we've been given . I don't think Alabama's suggested bond schedule makes a
lot of sense in many cases."

There has never been a "formal complaint" filed with the state
Administrative Office of Courts on the subject of recommended bond amounts,
said Scott Barnett, public information officer and staff attorney for AOC.

"If there were formal complaints by the judiciary, the Supreme Court would
take that up for consideration and probably look at (adjusting) the
schedule," Barnett said.

About Jason Landers Glencoe native Jason Landers covers law enforcement
for The Anniston Star.