Charlotte criminal defense attorney explains why serial offender Decarlos Brown was not in jail

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Decarlos Brown has a long history of being in trouble with the law; his criminal record shows three misdemeanors between 2007 and 2009.

He was convicted of felony breaking and entering and later convicted of assaulting and stealing from a man using a handgun, but he’s served time for each of the charges against him.

“People are wondering, why is he given a bond? Why is he back out? And essentially, what the legislature has done, they have made certain offenses required to have no bond or at least allow a judicial official to grant no bond,” said criminal defense attorney Aaron Lee with Lee and Lee Law Firm.

Lee says the 2023 Pretrial Integrity Act allowed for more serious offenses like drug trafficking and homicides to go before an elected judge to be granted bond or not. Magistrates use a certain set of criteria to make that decision.

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“The magistrate actually has a ‘findings of fact’ form, just like they filled out in Decarlos Brown’s case. And that actually has a checkbox for the magistrate to go over, and it’ll say whether or not no bond applies for rebuttable presumption. Under a rebuttable presumption, there is no assurances that this individual will come back to court or that he will not be a danger to the community. And if that applies, then there is this presumption that those risks are there, and it’d be up for a defense attorney to contradict that presumption,” Lee said.

The form lists serious offenses like drug, weapons, or homicide charges, or was the defendant out on bond and committed another offense using a gun or illegal weapon.

“None of those conditions apply into Decarlos Brown’s case, so there was no rebuttable presumption that he was going to be a danger,” he continued.

North Carolina Representative Tim Moore is calling for the magistrate, Teresa Stokes, who oversaw Brown’s case and previously released Brown on an unrelated charge, to be removed.

Moore penned a letter to North Carolina’s Chief Judge Roy Wiggins asking for Stokes to be removed. All of North Carolina’s Congressional Republicans signed onto the letter.

“She didn’t do anything out of the ordinary that any other magistrate wouldn’t have done. And if the D.A.’s office thought something was wrong with it, they could have brought a new bond hearing for a bond modification,” Lee explained.

Lee says the dilemma attorneys have is — they’re not doctors. He says getting someone evaluated is a lengthy and time-consuming process.

“It is kind of a broken system that a lot of clients do have mental health issues, but getting them evaluated is only for the court’s process to streamline and see if they can stand trial and their rights aren’t going to be violated, but it’s not getting them treatment and making sure the community safe… It’s certainly not for that,” he continued.

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