Norfolk man accused of murder should have been in jail

NORFOLK

On Jan. 5, a court transcript says, James A. Moore kicked in the door at Katrina Wilson's home and threatened to kill her.

Police have now charged Moore with doing just that. Wilson's body was found April 26 in her driveway in the 7500 block of Evelyn T. Butts Ave. She had been stabbed.

The crime happened while Moore was out on bond - even though, according to a court transcript, he should have remained in jail.

Moore came before the Circuit Court on April 2 for a bond hearing on the Jan. 5 charges of statutory burglary and destruction of property.

The day before the bond hearing, on April 1, a grand jury indicted Moore on unrelated charges of grand larceny from a Jan. 25 incident.

The prosecutor explained to Judge Mary Jane Hall that the hearing dealt only with the Jan. 5 charges involving Wilson.

"Those are not on for bond today," prosecutor Christina L. Brady said of the newer charges, for which Moore was being held without bond. Moore's lawyer, Joseph A. Pennington, did not disagree.

The judge ordered a $5,000 bond on the Jan. 5 charges, with the condition that he have no contact with Wilson.

"We'll see what happens with the other one," Hall said at the end of the hearing.

But the court clerk who assisted the judge during the hearing wrote a bond order that authorized Moore's release on both sets of charges. Hall signed it. The order was sent to the jail. Moore posted bond and was released on April 10.

Wilson was stabbed 16 days later.

In a motion filed with the Circuit Court on April 28, the day of Moore's arrest on the murder charge, Brady, the prosecutor, said the bond was an accident.

"The bond was accidentally applied to both charges and the defendant was released on that bond," Brady wrote. Moore's bond was revoked May 5.

Hall declined to comment through one of the judges' executive assistants. Chief Circuit Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. said judges are prohibited from commenting on pending matters by judicial canons of ethics.

Wilson's daughter, Tiara Wilson-Mills, said the family did not want to comment Monday night.

Sheriff's office spokeswoman Bonita Harris said the jail staff had no reason to question the court order.

"They gave us the order. We followed it," Harris said.

Circuit Clerk George E. Schaefer said the clerk prepared the order "based on what she understood the judge's intentions to be in court." Schaefer pointed out that the clerk asked the judge whether to include the wording regarding no contact with the victims.

"It's obvious the clerk is under the impression the guy is going to be let out," Schaefer said. "There's no reason to ask for no contact otherwise."

But Pennington, who represents Moore on the Jan. 5 and Jan. 25 charges, said he was surprised to hear Moore had been released.

"My impression was he did not have a bond on the grand larceny," Pennington said Monday.

Attorney Lionel Hancock, who represents Moore on the murder charge, said he did not know what transpired with Moore's other cases. Moore is scheduled to appear in General District Court on the murder charge next month.

Schaefer said his office pulled Moore's case files after being alerted to the discrepancy by the commonwealth's attorney's office.

Schaefer said he did not dispute the transcript of the hearing. But the clerk, who Schaefer said is a good employee, prepared the order based on what she believed had transpired.

"The final say is the person in the black robe, the judge," he said.

Schaefer said the clerk remains employed. He said he could not comment on whether the clerk was disciplined.

Commonwealth's attorney's spokeswoman Amanda Howie said her office had not contacted Wilson after the bond hearing because the prosecutor believed Moore was to remain in jail without bond.

Brady had argued against any bond for Moore, citing his threat against Wilson as well as his prior record - a recitation that took up almost a whole page of the transcript.

 Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com