Orleans Parish D.A. frustrated over bond settings

Police arrested 44-year-old Lawrence Howard on May 18 and booked him with home invasion and violating a protective order, according to FOX 8 News.

According to the arrest warrant, police say after Howard was released from jail on a previous domestic abuse battery charge, he entered his ex-girlfriend’s home stating, ‘Oh, you got a new boyfriend. I’ll show you.’ The victim told police Howard used a brick to smash the window before leaving.

The day after being released, Howard made his first appearance in Commissioner Robert Black-burn’s court. Commissioner Black-burn issued Howard a $500 cash bond. Howard bonded out of jail.

“The factors that should be considered should be the seriousness of the charge for which someone is arrested. You should certainly consider a person’s history and the violence that he may have been involved in,” Orleans Parish D.A. Leon Cannizzaro told FOX 8 News.

Cannizzaro did not comment specifically about this case, but has expressed frustration in the past about what he believes are unacceptable bonds given to suspects.

“I think judges who have the ultimate discretion are being nudged one way by the state legislature who wants to cut down on prison rolls versus the police department who made a lot of arrests and risks themselves and the D.A. who want to keep people in jail so he can prosecute them,” FOX 8 analyst Joe Raspanti said last week.

Police arrested 31-year-old Kerwin Duncan back on June 5 and booked him with simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. According to the arrest warrant, police say Duncan burglarized an Airbnb rental. The owner of the rental property told police that he observed a man in the rear yard of his Airbnb rental.

On the same day as his arrest, Duncan made his first appearance in Commissioner Albert Thibodeaux’s court.

“Under the rules, it says a judge is supposed to consider a threat to society, to other or yourself or your risk of flight, a component of that is how many prior convictions you have,” Raspanti explained.

FOX 8 News reported that Duncan has a lengthy criminal history that includes, one felony conviction and 14 misdemeanor convictions.

According to his pre-trial services report, Duncan has previously failed to show up in court, 15 times.

Commissioner Thibodeaux gave Duncan a $50 bond.

The D.A. refused the charge against Duncan. The other suspect, Lawrence Howard, has refused to show up in court since he bonded out of jail.

This article originally published in the September 3, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.