State Senator sponsoring bond reform bill quotes Breaking Bond report to illustrate why laws need to change
HOUSTON - Tuesday night's Breaking Bond report featured 20-year-old Edwin Maldonado.
Even though the aggravated robbery suspect violated his bond conditions more than 1,000 times, two judges thought he should be rewarded for it.
BACKGROUND: Aggravated robbery defendant violates bond conditions more than 1,000 times, gets rewarded by two judges
Maldonado was out on bond for a drug charge when he picked up the aggravated robbery charge. He was free from jail on a $30,000 bond.
Court documents show he failed to abide by any of his bond conditions for eight months.
During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, State Senator Joan Huffman quoted from our Breaking Bond report that aired the night before.
"He left his curfew zone 847 times, was called 453 times about his whereabouts, and had more than 1,000 GPS monitor violations," Huffman read from our report from the Senate floor.
"Senator Huffman is talking about the absurdity of this case and why we need bills like Senate Bill 1318."
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Even though Associate Judge Tiffany Hill found Maldonado did indeed violate his bond conditions more than 1,000 times, it was what she did next that caused a lot of head scratching.
"Instead of the bond being revoked or raised, it was lowered to $5,000 from $30,000," Huffman said. "That was done by Associate Judge Tiffany Hill. It was then brought before the sitting Judge Chris Morton of the 230th District Court who agreed with the lowering of the bond. So, what can I say about that?"
If Senate Bill 1318 becomes law, it would prohibit judges from granting personal recognizance bonds to defendants charged with felon in possession of a weapon.
"Anywhere from 30 to 50 a month were getting out on PR bonds, and some of them of course, as you well know, have gone on to commit murder," Kahan said.
Huffman's bill passed the Senate 30 to 1. Now it heads to the Texas House.
Associate Judge Tiffany Hill wanted to give Maldonado a personal recognizance bond, but state law prohibits a PR bond for an aggravated robbery charge.