Bail upheld for shooting suspect
Published 10:26 pm Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A Circuit Court judge on Wednesday upheld a $5,000 bond for a man charged with several felonies after a September shooting.
Jimmie L. Belcher, 49, posted the bond after Judge James A. Moore granted it. The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, however, challenged the amount of the bond for a man accused of a double shooting.
Belcher’s attorney argued that the case appears to be self-defense, and Belcher does not present a flight risk.
Belcher is accused of shooting two victims just after 1 a.m. Sept. 26. Police were called to the 300 block of Ben Street, where they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. A second victim went to police headquarters with a gunshot wound to the arm. Both were taken to local hospitals.
Meanwhile, according to city spokeswoman Debbie George’s press release, Belcher approached officers on Mt. Horeb Street and told them two men had grabbed him and he had fired several rounds with his revolver.
Belcher is charged with two counts of malicious wounding, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and two counts of shoot, cut stab or wound.
Attorney Eric Korslund argued his client had shot in self-defense.
“These two men accosted my client in the middle of the night,” Korslund said.
Belcher has maintained his employment for the last 15 years, Korslund added, and has only one felony conviction — for resisting arrest — from nearly 30 years ago.
“He’s not a flight risk,” Korslund said. “There’s no reason this gentleman shouldn’t enjoy his presumption of innocence.”
Circuit Court Judge Carl E. Eason left the bail amount at $5,000 and refused the prosecutor’s request to order a curfew.