Questions arise after MD man charged with domestic violence beats woman again hours after release
MD man arrested for domestic violence attacks victim again just hours after release from jail
A shocking case of domestic violence took place in Charles County last week. A man accused of beating a woman was released from custody and went on to offend again, returning to his victim's home and brutally beating her again, less than six hours after he got out from behind bars. FOX 5's Bob Barnard reports.
WALDORF, Md. - A shocking case of domestic violence took place in Charles County last week.
A man accused of beating a woman was released from custody and went on to offend again, returning to his victim's home and brutally beating her again, less than six hours after he got out from behind bars.
What we know:
Around 1 a.m. on Nov. 8, officers responded to the 4200 block of Drake Court in Waldorf for the report of a domestic assault.
There, they found a woman and her toddler who had been assaulted inside their home, allegedly by the same man who'd been arrested for the same crime hours earlier.
Police say 40-year-old James Bowman, III, was first arrested on the night of Nov. 7 for a domestic-related assault.
RELATED: MD man arrested for domestic violence attacks victim again just hours after release from jail
On Nov. 8, a state-appointed district court commissioner released Bowman on his own recognizance, telling him he was not to touch the victim again.
But within an hour, Charles County Sheriff's Office investigators say Bowman was back on Drake Court inside the victim's home.
They say he broke into her locked bedroom and assaulted the terrified woman and her toddler, leaving them beaten and bloody.
She was able to call 911 and have Bowman arrested again. This time, a judge ordered the suspect be held without bond
A judge’s perspective:
"I've had everything from somebody who was crying, saying I'm sorry to, she deserved it and she'll get it again. And well, that one would make your job easy. Would just say it's been nice knowing you," Steven Platt said.
Platt is a retired judge here in Maryland, where the Prince George's County sheriff's office recently rounded up more than 80 suspects with outstanding warrants for domestic violence. He says that whether or not to release domestic abusers from custody often depends on the experience of the judge or district court commissioner making the call, regardless of conditions placed on the accused.
"My attitude was, if you are a danger to anyone, then I'm going to err on the side of caution and if I'm wrong — meaning it wasn't necessary to incarcerate you, to keep you incarcerated — I'm sorry about that, but that's part of my job to make those decisions with inadequate many times information," Platt said.
"If somebody is going to hurt or attack or push to try to kill or hurt somebody, they're not going to not do it because they had to pay a bond. The safety of the individual is not tied to their financial condition, good or bad," he added.
Experts in the field say job losses, like those seen with federal workers right now, and the winter season now upon us, can lead to an increase in intimate partner violence.
Therefore, decisions from judges and district court commissioners, right or wrong. will play a role in how these cases play out.