The Martin Firm - selected case information

LaGrange Daily News

Saturday, November 1, 2003

Former bondsman, friend sentenced in battery case

By Joel Martin
Senior Writer

A LaGrange bondsman Friday was sentenced to 60 days in the county jail and 10 months' probation, but the jail term was suspended on payment of a $1,000 fine.

Jeff Bradley, 40, former owner of AAA Bonding Co., also was ordered to stay out of the bonding business.

He and a friend, Ronald Batchelor, 34, of LaGrange were convicted of misdemeanor battery charges on Oct. 17 for roughing up a man who owed the bondsman $362.

Batchelor, who had previous criminal convictions, was sentenced to a year in jail, with all but 90 days suspended on payment of a $500 fine.

"To say this is one of the most unusual cases I've been involved in during 18 years on the bench would be an understatement," Judge Alien Keeble said, noting that the defendants originally were charged with 11 felonies, including kidnapping with bodily injury and aggravated battery.

Most of the charges were dismissed before and during the three-day trial.

The jury found that the defendants used excessive force when they arrested Jamie Thomas, 21, at a residence on Cherry Valley Drive and returned him to the Muscogee County Jail in Columbus.

Thomas said he was assaulted while in handcuffs. But the judge said he had little sympathy for the victim because he was AWOL from the Army at the time of me incident Dec. 3.

Keeble said he's watched TV images of soldiers coming home in coffins from Iraq and Afghanistan and "these people answered the call of duty to defend the rights we all enjoy."

He said the coffins are draped in flags that Thomas "basically spit on" when he went AWOL, adding, "If he expects a whole lot of sympathy from me, he's not going to get it."

Bradley's attorney, Frank Martin of Columbus, said he didn't understand why the case was so vigorously prosecuted by Linda Caldwell, chief assistant district attorney.

It was an intensity I've seen lacking in many murder cases," he said.
The judge agreed, saying Caldwell's zeal can be an asset, but "at times she can become so passionate that passion overrides reason. …I question whether the state's analysis of this case was as objective as it could have been."

At the sentencing hearing, Vincent Speir testified about an incident in Harris County in 1992 when he lived next door to Bradley.

When he asked Bradley to return a water ski he had borrowed, he said Bradley started screaming and cursing at him, and later attacked him with a beer bottle and hit his car with a baseball bat.

When Speir's wife, Darlene, confronted Bradley, he allegedly punched her in the face, giving her a black eye.

"I fell to the ground crying," she said.

Bernice Willis, a Meriwether County resident, said she pulled into Bradley's driveway to ask for directions in July 1992, with her mother, grandmother and sister also in the car.

"(Bradley) told me, 'Bitch, get out of my yard and don't ever come back,'" she said.

Two other witnesses said Bradley assaulted them after mistaking them for people who had skipped out on a bail bond.

Bradley, who denied the allegations, lacked any previous criminal record and has sold AAA Bonding.

An estimated 30 people from Bradley’s church, Faith Baptist, showed up to support him at Friday's hearing, and associate pastors Brandon L. Brooks and Mark Lanier Pritchett testified on his behalf.

"He's an upstanding citizen, a dear friend, a faithful confidante, a best friend, a provider, a man who cares deeply about his home and family ...a man who doesn't deserve to be sitting where he is today," Brooks said.

Batchelor had previous convictions for burglary, simple battery, suspended license, disorderly conduct and interference with a 911 call. An ex-wife said Batchelor had assaulted her on numerous occasions.