Denial of bond for illegal aliens pondered by lawmakers
Monday, October 08, 2007

By Ryan Harris
Staff Writer

Georgia laws should be tightened to keep illegal immigrants suspected of serious crimes from bonding out of jail, several legislators said Monday.

"The fact that persons unlawfully present in the United States can easily return home and escape prosecution for a serious offense committed in the United States is something we should all consider a dangerous loophole," state Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, said via e-mail.

Sen. Rogers was the lead sponsor of Georgia's sweeping legislation passed last year taking aim at illegal immigration.

The latest legislative reaction comes after a suspected illegal alien arrested on child pornography charges in Dalton, Ga., was granted bail and released Sept. 29.

Officials said Juan Carlos Ruiz-Pineda, 27, disappeared after posting $25,000 bond.

Whitfield County Magistrate Judge Kaye Cope set the bond. She has not returned phone calls seeking comment.

Conasauga Circuit District Attorney Kermit McManus said his office would have opposed bond, but the hearing in Magistrate Court was on a Saturday when his personnel were not available.

Mr. McManus said a series of communication lapses resulted in the magistrate not being informed that Mr. Ruiz-Pineda was suspected of being in the United States illegally.

"It is not a systemic problem," Mr. McManus said. "We normally have this covered."

State Rep. Calvin Hill, R-Canton, has said in published reports that illegal aliens jumping bail are a frequent problem. He is proposing legislation to limit magistrate judges' role in setting bonds and to shift more responsibility to Superior Court.

"They (illegal aliens) are literally buying their way out of jail, and that needs to stop," Rep. Hill recently told the Gainesville Times.

Melica Kendrick, the clerk of Superior Courts for Whitfield County, declined to comment. But Mr. McManus said the release of Mr. Ruiz-Pineda could have been prevented if bond had been set in Superior Court, where a member of the district attorney's staff always is present.

His staff is in Magistrate Court only when he wants to challenge setting bond, the district attorney said, noting a magistrate can set bond in any case that does not carry a possible sentence of life in prison.

"They often have more questions than they normally have resources to answer them," Mr. McManus said about magistrates.

Mr. McManus said the prospect of shifting more bonding responsibility to Superior Court "is not a bad idea." But that would increase the Superior Court caseload and could cause the system "to slam to an abrupt halt," he said.

State Rep. Roger Williams, R-Dalton, said Rep. Hill's proposal is "debatable" because of the potential to overload Superior Court. He said a better solution is more training for magistrates.

"The magistrates are supposed to have the training and the understanding of the law on who can be bonded and who can't," Rep. Williams said. "If we need to require something for the magistrate to do as far as ascertaining their legality, certainly I think that would help."

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