Bail reduced in killing of in-law

LR man, jailed since February, fired in self-defense, attorney says

— A first-degree murder suspect saw his $500,000 bail reduced to $50,000 Thursday after his defense attorney said the Little Rock man acted in self-defense in fatally shooting his brother-in-law during a family gathering.

Charles Bailey Jr. has been jailed since his Feb. 21 arrest when the 42-year-old approached a Little Rock police officer monitoring traffic at Asher Avenue and South University Boulevard, saying he’d just shot a man who had disrespected him during an argument, and surrendered a pistol. Police found Bailey’s brother-in-law, Charles Dewayne Richardson, 42, of Lincoln, Neb., dead inside Bailey’s Southmont Drive home with two gunshot wounds in the chest.

Defense attorney Ron Davis suggested Bailey was acting in self-defense, saying Richardson, the brother of Bailey’s wife, had possibly committed the equivalent of residential burglary in refusing to leave Bailey’s home. Homeowners don’t have a duty to retreat from an aggressor in their own homes, Davis said, with state lawgiving residents who fear for their lives the authority to use deadly force to protect themselves. An autopsy showed marijuana and twice the legal level of alcohol in Richardson’s blood, Davis said, suggesting that Richardson was the aggressor.

“You certainly know what the combination of marijuana and alcohol does,” Davis said to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey.

Davis also asked Humphrey to consider the circumstances of Bailey’s arrest, saying Bailey had prudently removed himself from the scene to surrender to the closest available police officer. He asked for “reasonable” bail, citing his client’s sparse criminal history of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and public intoxication offenses from 12 years ago. The purpose of bail is to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court, not to be punitive, Davis told thejudge.

Testifying at Bailey’s bail hearing Thursday, detective Stuart Sullivan said no one saw the shooting. Sullivan said witnesses saw Bailey go into his bedroom then heard gunshots and saw Bailey leave the house. Richardson was founddead in a hallway a few feet from Bailey’s bedroom.

The detective, citing witness accounts, said Richardson had been attending a family gathering at Bailey’s home after the funeral of Richardson’s 65-year-old uncle, Joe Robert Richardson. Bailey had asked the guests to leave, saying he wanted to go to sleep, the detective said, and the men had quarreled when Richardson complained that Bailey was showing a lack of hospitality to relatives who had traveled from out of state to attend the services. Sullivan said most of the witnesses said the dispute between the men was civil.

The only contradiction to the witness accounts of the argument between the men was from Bailey’s wife of 13 years, Felicia Bailey, Sullivan said. She described a more heated altercation, the detective testified, but pointed out that she took two months to meet with officers after skipping repeated appointments with detectives.

Davis said Felicia Bailey, traumatized by the slaying of her brother and the arrest of her husband, had been under a doctor’s care and met with detectives once her health had improved. She testified thather husband had locked himself in the bedroom after he and her brother had a heated argument, telling the judge she’d seen the men make physical contact. Richardson refused to leave and went to the door, cursing her husband and demanding he open the door, she said.

She tearfully testified Thursday that she needed her husband home because he was instrumental in taking care of their two children, particularly in getting them off to school, because she has to leave for work at 4 a.m. Charles Bailey is well-liked in his neighborhood where he regularly helps elderly neighbors with chores and errands, she said.

“He’s not a violent person at all,” she said.

Deputy prosecutor Colin Wall disputed Davis’ claim that Richardson, a father of nine, had committed any crime like residential burglary as “preposterous.” Richardson and his family were “invited family guests,” the prosecutor said. Bailey could have avoided any further confrontation with Richardson, the prosecutor said.

“Mr. Bailey took matters into his own hands,” Wall said.

Arkansas, Pages 12 on 06/26/2010

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