DETROIT (WXYZ) — "The court is entitled to review things and to reconsider motions, and that is what this court is doing in this very moment," said 36th District Court Judge Roberta Archer when she raised bond for a 41-year-old man accused of hitting his wife in the head with a gun and threatening to kill her and their children earlier this month.
During an interview with 7 Action News this week, Angie (not her real name) talked about her disappointment that a relatively small amount of money could have allowed her estranged husband to be released from jail with a GPS tether.
The Detroit woman feared he would just cut off his tether and return to their home on the city's east side to harm her and the children.
A magistrate first set bond at $10,000 (10%) which could have allowed him to be released after posting $1,000.
On Friday, Judge Archer raised the bond to $20,000 (10%), but Angie still feared $2,000 wasn't enough to keep her and the children safe if her husband were to be released from jail.
Prosecutors had hoped the man's violent criminal history would have secured a higher bond.
In 1998, he was convicted of second-degree murder and felony firearms. He was discharged in 2013.
In 2017, he was sentenced to two counts of fleeing from a police officer. For those crimes, he was discharged in December 2020.
A day after 7 Action News aired the story of Angie's fears, Judge Archer called a hearing in the case to address bond.
Archer, the assistant prosecutor, and the defense attorney discussed the man's violent criminal record and his recent disregard of the court's order to not contact his wife.
The man admitted he called her in hopes that she would give him credit card information so that he could attempt to use it to bond out of jail.
His defense attorney, John Goldpaugh told the judge that the issues had not changed from Friday to Wednesday when they held the hearing to revisit bond.
Judge Archer acknowledged they were the same issues but said, "This is not sitting well with me and the court does have a right to revisit these issues."
Archer then raised bond to $75,000 cash or surety, and she asked that the jail try to figure out a way to block Angie's phone numbers so that her estranged husband could not try to call her again.
He's due back in court later this month in the case that has him facing multiple charges, including felony assault and misdemeanor domestic violence.
