RICHLAND—Why details about pending charges against Texan Brandon L. Jenkins are being kept a state secret from everybody except those in positions of authority is unclear, but is typical of the way things work in Richland County.
Having called all day up to the circuit clerk’s and state’s attorney’s office about any further charges—and even a bond hearing, which needs to be done in this state within 48 hours of detention of a suspect—we were told “we don’t know anything; the state’s attorney has the file.”
As is our usual practice, we checked the Richland County sheriff’s department jail site, where we found this:
So at least we were able to ascertain, from this listing, that the man accused of shooting and subsequently killing Michael Scott Earp, 23, of Olney, in the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 20, Brandon Jenkins, is at least BEING HELD on PRELIMINARY charges of First Degree Murder, Aggravated Battery, and Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm. And at least a bond hearing has been held, with a bail set: $3.5 million, the highest we’ve ever seen in our combined more than 30 years of doing this job, and we’ve seen a LOT.
We don’t know what prosecutor David Hyde is doing (other than keeping the media as ill-informed as possible) with this case, but it appears to be the following:
1—Keep the suspect in jail as long as allowed by law before having a bond hearing;
2—Have a bond hearing only, but not first advisement of charges, as we were told nothing of that nature is even on the court docket for right now or in the near future;
3—Allow only the local mouthpiece media (Olney Daily Mail) to have even the slightest tidbit of information from his office, which is: ‘additional charges are pending and may be filed next week’;
4—Not allow ANY information about the alleged shooter, including what he was doing here, whether he’s connected to anyone in the area, what kind of weapon or ammunition was used, what preceded the shooting if anything, whether the alleged shooter has any criminal history, etc, to be disseminated;
5—Allow Jenkins to be held on the ‘additional’ charges without formally filing them…although that makes little sense.
In fact, none of it makes very much sense. Which leads a thinking person with a pretty good knowledge of how the courts work to wonder: Is Hyde doing this as a “show” so he can say he ‘did something,’ then, when Jenkins nabs somebody like, oh, I dunno…ALAN DOWNEN or KENT HELLER to represent him, they’ll come down on his prosecutorial ass like a ton of bricks for excessive bail (which is not to be used as punishment, but as a precaution for the public’s safety and to secure the defendant’s presence in court….and this amount IS punishing), get the bail reduced to a mere fraction, bond this guy out, then drag it through the court system for YEARS because Jenkins doesn’t live here? Because without knowing Jenkins’ criminal history, and without knowing the story of what lead up to the shooting, that’s what it appears like Hyde is BEGGING to have happen. And then, Downen or Heller will get the whole thing pled down to Agg Discharge—about a step up from a misdemeanor—and Mr. Jenkins will be able to get it expunged and carry a firearm anyway.
And if this guy is as dangerous as the bail amount is making him sound…do we want him on the streets that quickly?
We knew this would be a jugfuck if for no reason other than it happened in Olney with Richland County at the prosecutorial helm. Keep checking back to see if anyone in charge gets their heads out of their asses and explains a few things for those of us who PAY THEIR PAYCHECKS.