Smith was arrested last week for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after an incident in which he allegedly threw a TV at Deja. But was released on a $15,000 bond despite having violated his probation.
I listened to a video of the Denton Police Chief talking about this. The defense lawyers try to spring their clients on low bail before the criminal histories can be retrieved. How can this be? I thought that the Texas computer system would display instantly all of the prior convictions and the fact that he was on parole. If it cannot, I have to ask why not?
As I understand it,
1. A re-arrest while on parole automatically revokes the parole. I understand that the parole officer on the case might need to be contacted but the subject should be held until that contact is complete
2. A $15,000 bail for a guy with multiple prior agg.assults is an insult to the community. The purpose of bail is supposed to be to make sure that the suspect shows up for trial. As his past history increases, so does his flight risk. So now, there are two more dead women. Why doesn't the judge involved have complicity in their deaths? I get that the suspect did those crimes but he wouldn't have been able to do them if he was still in lock up and I'm guessing that a reasonable bail would have taken a while for him to raise.