$1 Million Bail for $21 Theft

In early 1990, Gary Weaver of Owingsville, KY, bought some things at a store and paid for them with bogus coin, literally: He paid part of the $21 tab with rolls of pennies with dimes stuck on the ends, so the cashier thought they were rolls of dimes.

A warrant was issued for his arrest.  Eighteen years pass. On March 26, he was arrested again under very different circumstances:

Police charged him with disorderly conduct after they said he was cutting himself with a razor because he was despondent over the recent deaths of his brother and mother.

He pleaded guilty and got sentenced to time served - one night in jail. Sad, but it seems like sometimes the quickest way to get people who are a threat to themselves into custody is to arrest them. But when court officials saw the old warrant for Weaver on the theft case, what happened next was less salubrious:

The case, despite a loss of less than $25 if the allegations are true, was charged as a felony.

“How is that a felony?” Weaver’s defense attorney, Kip Guinan, asked today. “It’s clever maybe but not a felony.”

[Assistant Prosecutor Betsy] Sundermann explained that the law in 1990 was that theft charges were felonies if the defendant already had a prior theft conviction. Apparently, Weaver had such a conviction.

[Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Richard] Bernat then imposed the original bond on the case.

“How much is that?” Guinan asked because he didn’t have the bond paperwork on the 18-year-old case.

The answer was $1 million.

In 1990, Municipal Court Judge Jack Rosen set a $1 million bond on a case where Weaver was accused of stealing $21.64.

Bernat refused today to lower it.

That means Weaver is in the jail – that officials say is overcrowded and in need of replacement – on a bond that is $999,978.36 higher than the amount he is accused of stealing 18 years ago.

Good use of resources, guys.

Comments

[Mold]

Assume they are trying to save his life. Letting him home may end it.

The original bail seems like it was raised when he FTA. And you may be thinking it's funny but losing a certain amount from your till can get you fired. Sympathy for jerkwads tends to dissipate when the cost is borne by me. Yeah, people that stiff on tips are scum.

[zenpundit]

Legal training is great for honing analytical thinking skills. Unfortunately, it can also inculcate a sophistic style of rationalization where compartmentalized cleverness is overvalued to the point where it ends up having the same net effect as would sheer stupidity.

[Aquagirl]

zenpundit, you describe my life.

jerkwad /= $1 mil bail. Society would cease to function.