Million dollar bail… A case comparison – Part 7

On Wednesday, May 12, 2010, in Chapel Hill, 26 year old Theodore James Walker savagely attacked a 19 year old female jogger. Investigators say Walker grabbed the young woman from behind and then apparently tried to subdue her with pepper spray discharged in her face. He was dragging the victim to his car, when two concerned citizens raced on foot to her rescue. Walker left his victim and jumped in his car, and in making his escape, hit one of the rescuers, propelling him on top of the hood where the windshield was smashed. The 51 year old hero sustained a “fractured and compressed disc” (not clear whether the vertebral body was fractured or compressed according to the newspaper article). From Walker’s car, which was found shortly after the failed abduction, police confiscated a 12-gauge shotgun with shells, a condom, a baseball bat, and a pepper-spray case. Investigators at the suspect’s apartment seized a knife, Hustler and College Girls DVDs, photographs, cameras, and video recording equipment. Walker is charged with second-degree kidnapping, assault on a female, and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury… however, he was not charged with attempted first degree murder, as was Crystal Mangum for allegedly scratching her boyfriend. The magistrate set bail for Theodore James Walker at $500,000 (a bail amount half of that set by a magistrate for Crystal Mangum).

Comparison with the bail handed to Theodore James Walker of a half million dollars clearly points to the absurdity of Magistrate B. Wakil’s million dollar bail for Crystal Mangum, who did nothing more than allegedly scratch her boyfriend. Walker used his car as a deadly weapon in inflicting serious injuries to a heroic rescuer who required subsequent treatment at a hospital. Ms. Mangum, on the other hand, was described on police reports as using the following weapons against her ex-boyfriend: “hands and feet.” No knife, no gun, no baseball bat... but her bail is twice that of a vicious male predator who is stalking young, unsuspecting females.

Even though Theodore James Walker’s bail was later raised to $ 5 million after it was learned that he was involved in possible other attacks on women, including one in which a female allegedly jumped from his car while it was traveling 30 miles per hour which resulted in severe head injuries, no condition was made by a judge that he would be confined to house arrest if he was able to make bail. That ridiculous condition is what Crystal Mangum faces now, even though she is no flight risk or danger to society. The same cannot be said for Mr. Walker, who if he makes bond, is free to leave the confines of his home and continue to stalk feminine prey.

The disparity in which charges are made and sentences handed out in North Carolina helps to reinforce and support a system which fosters “selective justice based on Class and Color.