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July 28, 2010

Illegal alien denied bond

In pickup-motorcycle wreck case

Mark Millican markmillican@daltoncitizen.com

An attorney representing a family affected by a wreck that authorities say was caused by an illegal alien said on Tuesday that Jose Jorge Patino-Monroy “needs to have to answer” to the charges against him before he is possibly deported.

Larry Stewart, 61, of Rocky Face was driving a motorcycle and suffered a broken femur and two crushed ankles when Patino-Monroy pulled in front him in a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup on Highway 41 in Tunnel Hill, officials said. Stewart’s granddaughter who was riding on back, Baylee Martin, 7, sustained abrasions and cuts on one leg that required stitches.

Patino-Monroy, 26, of 3720 Water Tower Lane in Tunnel Hill, was denied bond by Judge William Boyett in Whitfield County Superior Court on Tuesday. He is charged by the Georgia State Patrol with leaving the scene of an accident, driving without a valid license, failure to yield right of way after stopping at a stop sign, failure to report an accident with injuries, driving on the wrong side of the road and causing serious injury by vehicle. He is on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold at the county jail, a spokeswoman said.

“We will file a civil suit, for sure,” attorney Sam Sanders said outside court. “Mr. Stewart is hurt really badly, but thank goodness he’s alive. Both of his legs are injured, almost beyond repair. And it’s my understanding that the abrasions his granddaughter sustained are scraped skin all the way to the bone.”

Stewart, who was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, is expected to face skin graft surgery today.

Public Defender Brandon Sparks asked Boyett to consider an $8,000 bond.

“Mr. Patino-Monroy has lived in the Dalton area the last seven years,” he said. “If he is able to make bond, he will be living at a Tunnel Hill address. He is married with a 2-year-old son who is ill with a heart condition. This is his first arrest, and he is currently employed as a landscaper.”

When Boyett asked Sparks who the landscaper is, and the question was translated to Patino-Monroy, Sparks replied that the employer is the city of Calhoun for the last 10 years.

Assistant District Attorney Susan Franklin said her office is opposed to bond, citing the immigration hold.

“We may lose (Patino-Monroy) if he is given bond,” she said of the potential for jumping bond.

Boyett asked Franklin if one of the charges was a felony, and she replied yes (causing serious injury by vehicle).

“I am denying bond because he is a threat not to appear,” Boyett concluded.

“We are opposed to him leaving the country until those (charges) are dealt with, criminally and civilly,” Sanders said. “Whether he gets bond or not, he needs to have to answer for (causing the wreck).”

In other court action:

• A “consent agreement” bond between the district attorney’s office and the public defender’s office was reached on Monday regarding Preston Perry Muse, 29, of 4255 Peace Rose Place in Loganville. Muse was charged on July 21 in an FBI-directed Innocent Images Task Force arrest with criminal attempt to commit aggravated child molestation and criminal attempt to commit child molestation.

Muse was released on a $25,000 bond granted by Boyett, with special conditions in place for his release.

FBI Special Agent Steve Emmett of the Atlanta office said in an e-mail the case involves “state charges” despite the bureau’s participation.

“In essence, he was a ‘traveler’ who traveled to the area with the belief that he was going to have sex with an underage/minor female,” he said.

• Samuel Stephens, 46, of 127 Victoria Way in Commerce, was charged on July 18 with criminal attempt to commit child molestation, also an Innocent Images Task Force arrest. Boyett noted from a warrant that Stephens was arrested for contact incidents that are alleged to have occurred between June 25 and the day of his arrest at the Best Western Inn in Rocky Face.

Sparks sought the same consent agreement that Muse received.

“I am not familiar (with his case), and am opposed to bond now,” Franklin said.

Boyett denied bond and rescheduled a bond hearing for Tuesday before Judge Jack Partain.

 

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