September 25, 2010
Murder suspect jumps bail

By Jean Cole
Sat Sep 25, 2010, 02:00 AM CDT

An illegal immigrant charged with reckless murder following a five-car accident that killed two people in December 2009 is at large.

Although he was considered a flight risk, Jose Guadalupe Ibarra-Morante, 44, of 27558 Spruce Road was released from the Limestone County Jail on Feb. 26 and has not been heard from since. Big Dogs Bail Bonding posted a $60,000 bond securing Ibarra-Morante’s release on two counts of reckless murder. He was scheduled to appear July 1 for arraignment — a hearing to answer the charges —but he failed to do so.

His release has prompted Limestone County District Attorney Kristi Valls to ask Limestone judges to inform the D.A.’s office before lowering bond. In Ibarra-Morante’s case, bond was effectively reduced because the defendant went from having no bond to having a $60,000 bond.

He was first arrested Dec. 21, 2009, and charged with murder in connection with the Dec. 12 wreck that killed a couple on Old Rail Road Bed Road.

During Ibarra-Morante’s initial appearance — a hearing in which a judge explains the charges, the defendant’s rights, appoints counsel and sets bond — District Judge Jerry Batts denied the defendant bond because he was in the country illegally and was considered a flight risk.

After Ibarra-Morante was formally charged by a grand jury in February, Circuit Judge James Woodroof Jr. set bond at $60,000. Under Alabama law, defendants are entitled to have a bond set unless they are charged with capital murder. Woodroof did not know when he set bond at $60,000 that Ibarra-Morante was a flight risk. The rules of criminal procedure recommend that judges follow a bond range of between $15,000 to $75,000 unless there are special circumstances. For example, a judge can set bond higher if the defendant is a flight risk.

After a defendant is indicted and appears at his or her arraignment, a judge usually lets stand the bond set during the defendant’s initial appearance. In only about 10 percent of cases will a judge raise or lower the initial bond, Valls said. The district attorney said she would have preferred, in this case, the bond be set higher.

Although Morante was in the country illegally, he apparently did not have a hold placed on him by Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the wreck. A hold prevents a prisoner’s release no matter what his or her bond.

The wreck

After the Dec. 12, 2009, wreck, state troopers determined that Ibarra-Morante committed multiple traffic violations, including alcohol consumption and improper passing, which caused a five-car collision that killed Richard Doty, 66, and passenger, Doris Cory, 62. The couple was heading home at the time.

A trooper said Ibarra-Morante was passing several vehicles in his 2003 Cadillac on Old Railroad Bed Road, just west of Huntsville city limits, about 6:50 p.m. that Saturday when he struck a 1999 Oldsmobile driven by Doty head on, killing Doty and Cory. Another passenger in Doty’s car, Christine Doty, who was 14, was injured.

Debris from the head-on crash turned it into a five-car accident that also injured Kenneth Mangrum, 47, driver of a 2005 Toyota, and passenger Pamela Mangrum, 42, both of Harvest. Two other drivers were involved in the wreckage but not injured.

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