LITTLE ROCK — A store surveillance video showing a wounded southwest Little Rock grocer fighting with two teenage assailants before he was fatally shot eight times in the back moved a circuit judge to cancel the $500,000 bond of one of the suspects Thursday.
At a bond hearing before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Willard Proctor Jr., a Little Rock police detective described how the video shows Ghazi Hammad, 38, on July 17 getting shot in the face and grappling with his teenage assailants before he was shot as he ran from one of the gun-wielding teens, 17-year-old Marco Balderas.
"If you've got video showing eight shots to the back ... I'm not comfortable with the notion of a bond," Proctor said, sending Balderas back to jail with his 15-year-old co-defendant Robert Michaelyn Williams.
The two are charged as adults with capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated robbery. They attended the hearing but did not testify. Too young to be executed, they face possible life sentences.
The store, Tom and Jean's Grocery Store at 13622 Sardis Road, reopened a week after the slaying.
Arrested shortly after the slaying, the pair's bail was set at $500,000 each. Williams remains jailed, but Balderas' family posted his bond through bondsman Arvis Harper Jr. about a month later. Balderas was rearrested in late September after prosecutors questioned the collateral that the teen's father put up with Harper to secure bail.
Balderas had hoped Proctor would restore his bond at Thursday's hearing, and the judge said he was satisfied by the bond arrangement. But the judge said prosecutors had presented "overwhelming evidence" against Balderas - one of the standards for determining bail.
Proctor, a former defense attorney, was quick to acknowledge that he has not heard all of the evidence in the case and predicted that the teen's attorneys would be able to demonstrate mitigating circumstances in the slaying of Hammad and the wounding of his wife, Khadijad Awwad.
Prosecutors did not play the video, but detective Steve Moore described it during the hearing. He testified that the tape shows both teens with pistols confronting Hammad after the couple, recognizing them as previous customers, unlocked the store to let them in to make a purchase.
Hammad was shot in the face during the encounter, Moore said. "You see him [Hammad] grab his face," the detective told the judge. He said it's not clear who fired that shot but immediately after Hammad was wounded, Balderas can be seen pulling his pistol back.
Balderas then runs behind the counter and grabs some money, Moore testified, and the wounded Hammad grabs both teens and begins to grapple with them.
"They are fighting," Moore said. "They fight all the way to the back [of the store]."
A gun falls to the floor during the struggle, and Balderas "comes out of his shirt" to get free from Hammad, the detective testified. The tape shows Awwad jumping on Williams and pinning the 15-year-old to the floor, he said.
Balderas runs down the aisle, pursued by Hammad, Moore told the judge, until the teen picks up the fallen gun.
"Mr. Hammad recognizes the gun," the detective said. "He tries to run and that's when Mr. Balderas fires."
Balderas can be seen firing eight times, Moore testified. The teen then walks to the back of the store where he can be seen pointing the weapon at Awwad, who is holding Williams down, Moore told the judge. There is an exchange of words between her and Balderas and then she raises her hands, lets Williams up, and the teens leave, the detective said.
Awwad's hip was grazed by a bullet during the encounter, police have previously said.
Jose Balderas, the teen's father, testified that he had put up the family home, six or seven vehicles and all of the tools for his masonry company as collateral to make bail for his son. He said he was also paying Harper $2,000 per month.
Prosecutors have expressed concern that the teen could flee to Mexico, but his father testified that the boy has no passport and has never been there. But questioned about family ties in Mexico, Jose Balderas' testimony appeared to contradict Harper's.
Jose Balderas, who said he is a naturalized U.S. citizen, told the judge that neither he nor his son had any family ties in Mexico because the family had moved to the United States, primarily settling in Texas and Arkansas. But Harper testified that Jose Balderas had told him he has a brother and sister in Monterrey, Mexico. Harper had collected family informationon the judge's order.
The discrepancy showed that the elder Balderas was lying to get his son out of jail, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Johnson told the judge. Defense attorney Cathleen Compton disputed that claim, arguing that language differences caused Jose Balderas to misspeak. Jose Balderas testified that he is fluent in English but is more comfortable with Spanish.
Proctor said he was concerned about the different stories but was willing to attribute them to the language barrier.
Pointing to the evidence, Johnson asked Proctor to refuse bail for Marco Balderas, noting that capital-murder suspects are not entitled to bail as defendants charged with lesser crimes are.
Compton said bail is designed to be a financial guarantee that the teen will attend court proceedings. He has only a minor juvenile record of school offenses like truancy and fighting, and always showed up for court in those cases, Compton told the judge. He also has supportive family members who would guarantee his presence if he was released and who have made a significant financial investment for his bond, she said.
Jose Balderas testified that his son lived with him only one day after his Aug. 23 release on bail, then moved in with Balderas' wife's sister in Vilonia. The elder Balderas said he lives on the same block as the grocery store and feared his neighbors' reaction to the slaying of the popular grocer, who was remembered by more than 200 neighbors at an impromptu vigil at the store four days after the shooting.
"I was afraid something would happen to him," the senior Balderas told the judge.
Front Section, Pages 1, 3 on 10/26/2007