Assistant Public Defender Malik Edwards appeared on behalf of the defendant, John M. Namauleg, while Assistant Attorney General Melissa Simms represented the government.
Wiseman denied the forfeiture of Namauleg’s bail and stated that “the government must file a bill of information which spells out the crimes the defendant is being charged with based on the alleged facts.”
According to Wiseman, the court is unable to grant the motion to forfeit bail because the government relied only on a finding of probable cause to support their motion.
Namauleg was arrested and charged for multiple acts of theft, attempted theft, and forgery in connection with fraudulent cashing of checks belonging to Neo Fashion from Dec. 2007 to Jan. 2008.
The court approved his release to a third party custodian on Feb. 21 subject to certain conditions.
As a security for his release, the third party custodian signed a $20,000 unsecured/appearance bond and posted a 1994 Nissan pick-up worth $5,000.
According to the government, the defendant committed attempted second degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault and battery days within his release.
The court found probable cause for each charge during the preliminary hearing on March 5, 2008.
Namauleg was accused of stabbing a 30-year-old woman who was taking a shower inside her barracks in Afetnas on Feb. 25.
The government stated that the newer charges on March 5 “constitute a sufficient basis to warrant the forfeiture of Namauleg’s bond.”
But the defendant’s counsel argued that it would be unconstitutional to forfeit the defendant’s bond for anything except for failure to appear in court.
