An 18-year-old student that was arrested and released for making threats against Bradford Preparatory School just days before graduation, was brought back into custody Thursday by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Jacob Lawlor was first arrested by CMPD on June 1, 2022, for making threats toward the school through a text message but was released on a $2,500 bond less than six hours later.
On June 2, Lawlor was taken back into custody and appeared in court as District Attorney Spencer Merriweather tried to raise his bond and make him wear an electronic monitor.
The DA’s request to put him on house arrest was denied.
Lawlor will be held until noon on Friday so graduation Thursday night can happen safely.
“There are a number of limited circumstances in our statutes that do not permit magistrates to set release conditions for criminal charges, ensuring that bond should not be set without giving my office an opportunity to be heard.,” DA Merriweather said. “On the dozens of occasions this year where these laws have not been complied with, we have repeatedly brought this to the attention of supervising judicial officials and asked, with mixed success, for matters to be revisited in open court. Court officials have proposed some best practices to try to eliminate these occurrences, and we hope they are successful. In the meantime, we continue to urge all judicial officials to follow the law.”
Bradford Preparatory also released a statement saying CMPD has been very helpful and any further questions should be directed towards them.
Last week Merriweather dropped all charges against Lawlor.
Background: Bradford Prep is a North Carolina Charter School in the Mallard Creek area of Charlotte just northeast of the I-85-I-485 interchange and just south of Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 2022 senior class is all of 105 make that 104 since Lawlor apparently didn't make the cut.
Cedar's Take:
The system is broken. On January 23rd, 2019 Chief Judge Regan Miller and Senior Resident Judge W. Robert Bell signed an order setting the Bail Policy for the 26th Judicial District. Its been a "free-for-all" Charlie Foxtrot ever since.
3 comments:
"TBAR"?
10:22 That Boy Ain't Right - Look at those eyes in the second photo.
“There are a number of limited circumstances in our statutes that do not permit magistrates to set release conditions for criminal charges, ensuring that bond should not be set without giving my office an opportunity to be heard.,” DA Merriweather said. “On the dozens of occasions this year where these laws have not been complied with, we have repeatedly brought this to the attention of supervising judicial officials and asked, with mixed success, for matters to be revisited in open court. Court officials have proposed some best practices to try to eliminate these occurrences, and we hope they are successful. In the meantime, we continue to urge all judicial officials to follow the law.”
If the "judicial officials" (magistrates) are not following the law, then they should be held accountable. You know who is responsible for that? The Chief District Court Judge. If people are repeatedly breaking the law and putting the public in danger, the press should be reporting it.
ALso, why TF were charges dropped?
Because Merriweather ALWAYS drops charges.
Post a Comment