Day one of cashless bond in Marion County saw none of the new weekend prisoners detained. Judge Chad Miller allowed all six to be released without bail after making them sign a new pre-trial release order that they would come back to court for their next appearance. In all the cases the judge sternly warned if they did not appear in court and follow the pre-trial conditions as ordered they could be detained without bond in the Marion County Jail for 90 days as their cases preceded during the court process.
Marion County State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth had filed paperwork requesting to hold two of those who appeared on domestic battery-related charges to be held in jail without bond based on the real and present threat they made to another person, but Judge Miller denied the requests.
The decisions came in the case of 45-year-old Christopher Ramey of East 6th in Centralia who was charged with domestic battery after allegedly trying to run over the alleged victim in a business parking lot and putting several marks on the alleged victim following a fight. The second case involved 18-year-old Tristan Nix of Salem Mobile Home Park who was charged with domestic battery for striking the alleged victim in the face with his hand. He was also charged with having a gun without a FOID card. The gun was in a closet and not involved in the alleged domestic battery. The pre-trial conditions in both cases included no contact with the alleged victims.
Two Champaign-Urbana men were charged with four counts apiece of forgery for allegedly passing counterfeit $100 bills at three Centralia area Dollar General stores and at Walgreens. Both 28-year-old Taiwan Davis and 33-year-old Roderick Myers had a public defender appointed to represent them and were released with a signed promise to return for their next court appearance.
22-year-old Dakota Day of East Mitchell in Salem was formally charged with a misdemeanor count of aggravated assault with the use of a deadly weapon. He’s accused of swinging a knife at his sister and threatening to stab her. The public defender was appointed to represent him. As part of his pre-trial release, he was ordered to have no contact with the victim or her home as well as not possess a weapon.
A 27-year-old Centralia man, Daniel Johnson of South Poplar, who was charged on Friday with possession of under five grams of methamphetamine but had refused to come out of his cell for a first appearance was also released until his next court hearing under the new cashless bail system. The public defender was appointed to represent him.
A 55-year-old Centralia man arrested on outstanding warrants also appeared during the new prisoner call. Judge Miller warned Cedric Bradley of South Poplar that while he could now file a motion seeking to be released under the new cashless bail law, since his felony domestic battery charge involved an act of violence it was possible his current $10,000 bond could be revoked and he would be held without bond as his cases progressed through court. Bradley seemed happy to continue to be handled under the old bond system which is still permissible for existing cases.
