The preliminary hearing for two men accused of aggravated assault for allegedly shooting at an Indianola police officer back on Sept. 14 has been continued by Judge Kuykendall Murry until Nov. 13 at 3 p.m.
Conversely, the judge refused to reduce the bonds previously set for Robert Lanez Wilburn 25, 1000 First St., Inverness and JaShawn Colton 22, 415 Gholston St., Inverness. The men appeared in Municipal Court on Oct. 23 along with their attorneys.
City prosecutor Tonya Franklin requested the continuance on the case because, according to her, Wilburn is also under investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and those officers may have pertinent information. “We believe that MBI received statements from this gentleman in reference to this case,” she said. Franklin said the officers were on their way to court but received an emergency call and had to cancel their trip.
However, Franklin objected to the bond reduction requests made by the men’s attorneys citing probable cause and that she had an officer in court willing to testify that at the time of the incident she was facing mortal danger at the hands of the defendant.
Indicating that rule 8.2 of the rules of criminal procedure was the basis for her determining not to reduce the set bonds, Murry said that she considered the 15 corresponding factors including prior criminal record, reputation, the nature of the offense plus the type of weapon and threats. “And this court is very familiar with both of their histories,” she said.
According to Murry, Wilburn had already been sentenced on another aggravated assault charge and she then named other charges pending against Wilburn in circuit court including possession with the intent to distribute, felony fleeing and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
In addition, Murry said she also reviewed the municipal court records and found, “numerous, numerous misdemeanors.” As for Colton, she said he has a murder charge pending, felony charges in Inverness and a number of misdemeanors in addition to the new charge of aggravated assault on a police officer.
Murry said in light of that, the bonds were set in the best interest of the county and city residents and is in line with what the courts promulgated, “And the bonds are staying, $500,000 for Mr. Wilburn, $250,000 for Mr. Colton,” Murry said.
Attorney Jacob Jenkins, the public defender assigned to Wilburn, originally said he was not opposed to the continuance, though he did request a reduction in Wilburn’s $500,000 bond amount previously set by the court. He questioned why his client’s bond was doubled that of Colton and Murry explained that she chose to do an upward modification based on the factors previously mentioned.
Attorney Debra Giles is serving as public defender for Colton and had also asked the judge to consider a bond reduction for Colton if the court decided to grant the continuance.
Both have been incarcerated for over a month unable to make bail.
