Bill Would Allow Va. Bail Help Only For Poor

A bill quietly rolling through the General Assembly would put an end to what supporters call taxpayer-funded get-out-of-jail-free passes for criminals who can afford to pay their own bail. Opponents argue it is nothing more than a ploy by bail bondsmen to increase profits.

Commercial bail bondsmen are pushing the measure to limit pretrial services, where the state pays for criminals to be released before their court hearing, to only those offenders who cannot afford to post their own bond. They argue tax dollars should not be used to bail out those who can afford to pay their own way or to compete with private business.

Pretrial services supporters say freedom shouldn't depend on someone's ability to pay, and that their programs save the state and local governments money because it's cheaper than housing minor offenders in overcrowded jails.

The bill passed out of the House last month on a 63-36 vote. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee, which killed a similar measure earlier in the session, could consider the bill on Wednesday.

Pretrial services supporters say they fear legislators will reverse course amid pressure by supporters of the bill, who are running commercials statewide and touting the bill as a way to save the state millions as lawmakers franticly try to reconcile a $4 billion state budget shortfall.

"Schools are facing devastating cuts. Medicaid is facing devastating cuts, and here we have people being released who should be paying their own way," said Pat Edmonson, a lobbyist for Virginians for the Preservation of Bail.

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Jury Seeks 40 Year Prison Term for Bondsman's Murder

Bad timing cost James E. Carr seven years of freedom.

A Richmond jury recommended yesterday that Carr serve 40 years in prison for first-degree murder and felonious use of a firearm in the death of bail bondsman James W. Woolfolk III.

Minutes before the jury signaled that it had reached a decision on the sentence in its second day of deliberations, Carr's defense attorney and Richmond prosecutors had reached a plea agreement that would have given him 33 years in prison.

"I really have no reason to accept the plea agreement," Circuit Judge Beverly W. Snukals told the attorneys before calling in the jury to render its verdict.

Snukals will sentence Carr on Nov. 7, but members of Woolfolk's family left court yesterday satisfied with the jury's decision. The jury convicted Carr of first-degree murder on Tuesday.

"Though nothing will bring him back, this sure helps," said Theresa Godbold, niece of the 39-year-old bail bondsman, who was killed March 6 in South Richmond while trying to arrest Carr, 20, for skipping court on a felony drug charge.

James Woolfolk was the first bail bondsman killed in Virginia while on duty in recent memory. He was unarmed when he was shot three times from behind after finding Carr hiding in a bedroom closet at 2313 Joplin Ave.

"I shot him three times in the back. . . . I did a cowardly act," Carr confessed Tuesday evening during testimony on the sentencing.

Prosecutors said Carr had a simple reason for shooting Woolfolk: "He just did not want to go back to jail," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill, who called the shooting "a cold-blooded execution."

Carr's stepfather, Michael Morris, testified that Woolfolk had turned his back and started toward the living room when he was shot. "He said, 'All right, Jimmy, you know what this is. Let's go.'" Woolfolk's mother, Theresa Woolfolk, said the family was satisfied with the recommended sentence. "We hope the best for James Carr and his family," she said.

Defense attorney Dean C. Marcus said Carr had shown remorse from the beginning for killing Woolfolk. "It's been eating him up," Marcus said after the jury rendered its recommendation.

But Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Matthew P. Geary responded, "If Mr. Carr was truly remorseful for what he did, he would have spared his family and the victim's family the agony of trying this case."

Carr still faces charges in Richmond of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, felony drug possession, and failure to appear in court -- the charge that brought Woolfolk to the house where he died. He also faces a charge that he violated his probation on a robbery charge in Henrico County, where he had a suspended sentence of 10 years.

Geary said his office is working with Henrico to revoke the suspension and reinstate the full sentence.

Trial Postponed in Bondsman's Slaying

A judge today postponed the trial of a man accused of killing Richmond bail bondsman James W. Woolfolk III.

Richmond Circuit Judge Beverly W. Snukals granted the request because James E. Carr, who originally waived his right to be tried by a jury, changed his mind. Snukals set Sept. 16 as a new trial date.

Defense attorney Dean Marcus filed two motions this week: to withdraw Carr's waiver of his right to a jury trial and to withdraw as counsel for Carr, who wanted a new lawyer.

This morning, Carr said he and his client had patched up their differences but that his client still wanted to be tried by a jury.