CHARLOTTE — A man accused of threatening to shoot up five Charlotte schools is behind bars for now, but some worry that his $10,000 bond is too low.
Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz has been covering the issue of bail bonds in Mecklenburg County for years, and he spoke with a former judge to get insight into setting those bonds. The people making those decisions are going off of information that’s available to them less than 24 hours after an arrest, and sometimes, that’s not much.
Drew Owens, 31, is facing five felony charges after allegedly making multiple threats to five schools in Charlotte. Police say he threatened to shoot and slaughter staff and students at the campuses, and court documents say Owens also threatened to kill residents who live in the same Ballantyne neighborhood as his family members.
“I am constantly in fear for my life,” said one neighbor.
That neighbor said they’re scared Owens will get out after Judge Fritz Mercer gave Owens a $10,000 secured bond.
“You have an oath to be fair and impartial, and you can’t let your emotions be the determining factor of how you set these bonds,” said trial lawyer Yolanda Trotman.
Trotman used to be a Mecklenburg County district court judge. She wouldn’t say what she thought of the bond set for Owens, but she told Sáenz what the judge likely looked at.
She says the judge would see a pretrial release report if it was available. That would show any prior convictions, prior failure to appear in court information, and then a recommendation for the judge. But Owens doesn’t seem to have a violent criminal history, so the judge would also look at other things.
“Such as family ties ... do they have a flight risk? Was there a mental health condition? Do they have the financial means to post bond?” Trotman said.
We know Owens’ parents live in Charlotte, and according to court records, Owens was marked as suffering from a mental health disorder.
Trotman said she just wants everyone to understand the point behind setting bonds.
“Bond is not designed to be a punishment. Bond is designed to secure the person’s reappearance in court to answer for those charges,” Trotman said.
Trotman told Sáenz being behind the bench is a heavy weight to bare, at times. She says nobody wants to be the judge that sets a bond that gets posted before something horrible happens.
In the case of Owens, he may only have to pay a thousand dollars to get out.
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