Public Fury Erupts Over Disparity in Bail for Repeat Offenders After Mass Shooting Suspect Set at $60K

A suspect involved in a mass shooting in Alabama has been granted a $60,000 bond, while a recent case involving a repeat offender accused of assaulting an elderly woman will see the accused remain in custody until trial.

Clarke County District Attorney Stephen Winters reported that Brandon Pugh allegedly entered the home of a 75-year-old woman in Grove Hill, Alabama, on November 2 while she was sleeping. According to WALA, the woman managed to flee to a neighbor’s house and call the police as Pugh attempted to disrobe inside her residence.

Pugh has a criminal history, having been convicted of indecent exposure on three occasions. Additionally, he pleaded guilty to a burglary charge in 2019, where he broke into a woman’s home with the intent to commit sexual assault and theft.

Under Aniah’s Law, a judge has ordered that Pugh remain in jail without the option of bail. This law allows judges to deny bail to individuals accused of serious offenses, including murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape, and first-degree robbery. In this case, Pugh faces charges of first-degree burglary and elder abuse.

According to the report, a petition to keep Pugh locked up until his trial since it’s not his first serious offense.

Fox News Digital reached out to an attorney who last represented Pugh.

One of the suspects in an Oct. 4 mass shooting that took place following the Morehouse-Tuskegee Classic college football game in Montgomery, Alabama, was given a $60,000 bond. Montgomery Police Chief Jim Graboys said two people were killed and 12 were injured, adding that only one of the 14 victims was the intended target. He said there were multiple shooters.

The suspect, Javorick Whiting, 19, was arrested on Oct. 16 and charged with attempted murder in relation to the mass shooting. According to court documents, the person Whiting allegedly shot was last reported in critical condition.

After Whiting was taken into custody, a judge set bond at $60,000, which Whiting was able to post on Oct. 17 through a bail bond company, court records obtained by Fox News Digital show.

Prosecutors filed a motion to increase Whiting’s bond.

“The current bond amount is woefully inadequate to protect the public from this dangerous and violent criminal,” the DA’s office wrote.

District Judge Michael Godwin denied the motion to increase bond, writing that prosecutors didn’t present any new evidence. Godwin wasn’t the judge who set Whiting’s $60,000 bond.

Richard White, Whiting’s attorney, said in an interview with Fox News Digital that a shift to no bail would be a “slippery slope.”

“There are innocent people that get arrested and it’s a slippery slope when you start just no bail for people,” White said. “But I do understand people’s frustration with that. But I just think, you know, it’s a slippery slope. And look, the case is politicized. I think that has no business in the criminal justice system.”

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey previously expressed her frustrations that Whiting was released on bond in a Facebook post.

“Today, we learn that one of the four suspects has been released back onto the streets,” Ivey wrote on Oct. 20. “This is exactly the legal loophole that I and many in the Legislature sought to close when I signed the Safe Alabama package. Next May, all Alabama voters will have a chance to end mandatory bail for those suspected of attempted murder by voting to expand Aniah’s Law. I will not forget today’s troubling news when casting my vote.”

Lawmakers recently passed legislation which would add attempted murder to the list of eligible charges in Aniah’s Law, but it still needs to be approved by voters in the state.