Bail reform's revolving door puts public at risk, says County Attorney Tom Velardi

Some of the entries taken from a recent Rochester Police Log in which the offender was bailed, including one who was wanted for bail jumping.

ROCHESTER - Not unusual in any Rochester Police Arrest Log is an entry headed, "WANTED PERSON BAILED/RELEASED." But a Rochester man recently taken into custody on such a charge had an eye-popping six bench warrants; he, too, was given PR, or personal recognizance bail, yet again after failing to appear in court six times as ordered by a judge.

Such flouting of the law has become all too common, Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi said on Monday.

"People don't understand why (criminals) get out on PR and go back to court for another offense and get out on no bail again," Velardi said. "They want people held accountable who violate bail."

Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi (UNH photo)

A recent bail reform bill signed by the governor was supposed to close some of the loopholes.

Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill on June 25, saying, ""It is critical to close loopholes that could potentially allow dangerous suspects from causing harm in our communities while they await trial, and this bill is another step in the right direction."

But Velardi says more needs to be done to hold nonviolent offenders accountable when they break laws while out on bail or fail to appear for court dates multiple times.

The Rochester man who was bailed and released after ignoring six bench warrants had been previously charged with criminal mischief, criminal trespass, two counts of contempt, willful concealment and a town ordinance, none of them violent crimes that could be cited by a prosecutor as proving the suspect was a danger to himself or the community.

Velardi, who says the current situation is untenable, wants multiple offenders like these to face some consequence including possible confinement and/or cash bail.

"No one wants this situation," he said. "Law enforcement, county attorneys, Sheriff's Departments all wonder, 'How many chances do they get?'"

Rochester Police Capt. Todd Pinkham noted a female transient was arrested recently on two EBWs (electronic bench warrants) and released on PR. She had multiple other previous failures to appear, too. Her criminal offenses comprised theft, theft by unauthorized taking after two other convictions, resisting arrest, theft of services and drug trafficking among others.

Velardi worries bail reform that allows no consequence for repeat offenders is treading down a dangerous path.

"Someone's going to end up getting hurt, and it's unfortunate if this is what has to happen for things to change," Velardi said.

When last year's bail reform bill came out in August, it had a noble objective to take cash out of the equation when it comes to getting released pending trial, especially for petty, nonviolent crimes committed by those among the poor or homeless populations.

But as a consequence what happened is "every time they come before a judge (after an offense) it's a clean slate," Velardi said. "They get PR'd again."

Rochester Police Chief Paul Toussaint expressed the department's frustration with the consequences of bail reform and its impact on the downtown in a recent Rochester Voice article.

"The old strategy was that a small group commit vast amount of crimes, and are frequently wanted, so we would make an arrest and depending on the arraignment date, they'd be off the street for an amount of time," he said. "That would make an impact, and the more you put in jail the less crime you have.

"Now they get out on PR (personal recognizance). So the public has a reasonable expectation that we can clean up the downtown, and that will solve the problem, but very few go to jail.

"It's frustrating, more so for the officers, trying to make an impact, who run into roadblocks."

District 6 Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, said a June bill was designed to close some of the loopholes currently dogging county attorneys and law enforcement agencies.

"The new bail reform bill gives the court more latitude to retain people that they consider a danger to themselves or the public," he said today.

He specifically noted in the bill it states, "The court may consider all relevant factors bearing on whether the release will endanger that person or the public."

Gray added that "Not showing up (for a court appearance) could be considered a relevant factor by a judge."

"If a person is a repeat offender of a crime, or misses PR bail to begin with and has committed additional crimes, that's enough for the judge to hold him," Gray said.

But judges are sticking close to the verbiage outlined in the bill, so if the suspect is not considered a "danger to the public or himself," they get turned loose over and over.

Some legislators are pushing back, saying prosecutors are not making a strong enough argument for revocation of PR bail when they think it's called for, but Velardi said the judges appear to be defining "dangerousness" closely and not likely to qualify a "nonappearance" as a proof of dangerousness.

"The legislators say that's not what they wanted, but that's how judges across the state are interpreting it," Velardi said.

Velardi was recently added to a mix of law enforcement agencies, the ACLU and other stakeholders to consider and make recommendations to further strengthen bail reform to protect the public. They will make those recommendations to the legislature in November 2020.