Tavoris CovingtonA defense attorney wants local judges to address a Tennessee law that denies bond to anyone who violates probation, which he says impels defendants to plead guilty to minor charges just to get out jail.
Tavoris Covington spent 86 days in jail without a bond after he was arrested Dec. 26 for riding in a vehicle that held a stolen gun, attorney Brian Pearce wrote in a March 22 motion.
Prosecutors are waiting for fingerprint evidence that links Covington to his charges of possessing a firearm with intent to go armed and theft over $500 for the stolen gun, Pearce said. But in the meantime, they have Covington in jail because the county's General Sessions Court judges regularly yank a defendant's bond for violating probation with a new arrest.
Chattanooga prosecutors often will file to deny bond when defendants repeatedly break the law, county district attorney's office spokeswoman Melydia Clewell said.
"We will do all we can to make sure they spend as much time behind bars as the law allows," Clewell wrote in an email. Ultimately, "the decision lies solely with the judge presiding over the case."
But Pearce said some judges are misusing the law on misdemeanor arrests, which are less severe than felonies and often result in probation or at most a year in the county jail.
Defendants sitting in jail often have trouble fighting cases even if the evidence is weak, Pearce said, and so they plead guilty to petty offenses just to get out of jail. Those offenses can be used against them in the future, he added.
About 10 percent of Silverdale Correctional Facility's 948 inmates are there for violating probation on misdemeanor charges. Seven prisoners among the 509 at the Hamilton County Jail are incarcerated for the same reason.
General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom said committing even a minor misdemeanor is still violating probation.
"When you're on probation, you basically have been given the privilege, based on your record, to be out in the community on a suspended sentence," Statom said. "So if you're doing that and commit a new offense when you've already received that privilege, there should be consequences to that."
But Pearce said the practice means people charged with minor crimes may be treated no differently than a serious offender and pick up wrongful convictions.
"There was no need for this defendant to be housed, at the expense of taxpayers, for 86 days while the state investigated the case and waited for fingerprint evidence," Pearce wrote in his motion.
"The prolonged pretrial detention coerces wrongful convictions via pleas when inmates are told their fastest path to freedom is to admit guilt."
His case is scheduled for a hearing today before a Criminal Court judge, but will probably be delayed, Pearce said.
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Covington's story begins with a domestic assault conviction in 2015 that affected the rest of his record, Pearce says.
Hamilton County deputies say Covington walked into a home in East Lake Courts on Aug. 3, 2015, and slapped his ex-girlfriend across the face. Then he ran outside with her glasses, snapped them in two, and punched her in the face until she escaped and called for help.
Pearce said Covington never had the chance to call his own witnesses who would have disproved the allegations after Sessions Judge Gary Starnes held a hearing on Oct. 26, 2015, without a lawyer present.
Covington, who couldn't afford an attorney, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and a year of probation, records show. With a domestic assault conviction, he can be prosecuted for being around guns, a charge he currently faces.
Starnes said he could not comment on a specific case but added he would not conduct a hearing of any sort without an attorney present. Court records show he gave Covington two months to find an attorney.
Pearce wants Criminal Court to hold a new evidentiary hearing so Covington can present his own defense in the hopes of overturning that domestic violence conviction.
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But Pearce said his client's rearrest on misdemeanor probation violations without a bond means he can't successfully fight these cases.
Covington spent another 90 days in custody after his ex- girlfriend said he broke her driver's side door handle trying to get into her car on Feb. 29, 2016, records show. He was on probation for the vandalism charge when he was arrested Dec. 26, and prosecutors revoked his probation Jan. 4.
A person charged with violating probation stays in jail until the judge appoints an attorney and arranges a hearing - usually within seven to 10 days, Starnes said.
Covington's charge of possessing a firearm with intent to go armed is a misdemeanor, while theft over $500, for the gun, is a class E felony.
Pearce said the March 22 preliminary hearing raised questions about the strength of the evidence, including whether Covington knew the gun was in the car. Plus, Covington was in jail on the vandalism violation when the firearm was stolen, he said.
But Starnes set a $200,000 bond on the probation violation and raised the bonds on his theft and gun charges from $3,000 to $25,000 each, records show.
Prosecutors presented one new piece of testimony that could justify an increase in bond, Pearce said.
"That one exception was that on Feb. 6, 2014, the defendant scored 14 points on the Chattanooga Police Department 'gang validation form' and that his alleged membership in the Rollin' 60 Crips made him a threat to the community due to an ongoing 'beef' between that street gang and another gang. This information was rank hearsay."
Pearce is appealing the bond decision and wants to reduce it in Criminal Court.
"The denial of bond [for people] who violate probation is a regular practice in Hamilton County's Courts of General Sessions," he wrote. "By setting the bond in these amounts, the trial court has effectively convicted the defendant at the preliminary hearing."
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeter son@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.