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Published: 2013-02-21 11:03:00
Updated: 2013-02-21 18:09:48

Bond stays at $1.5M for girlfriend charged in trooper shooting


Lyndsey Smith
Lyndsey Smith
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The pregnant girlfriend of the man accused of shooting a North Carolina state trooper made her first appearance in court Thursday morning to face charges in connection to the case.

Lyndsey Smith, 21, of Durham, is charged with accessory after the fact to assault with a deadly weapon and harboring a fugitive. She was arrested Wednesday afternoon is being held in the Durham County jail.

With her family members sobbing in the front row, Smith told a judge that she is seven months pregnant, had been in town only a few months and was not working. Her relatives were in town for support, she said.

Although she has no prior record, the judge did not reduce her bond, which remains at $1.5 million. Smith’s next court appearance was set for March 13.

A search warrant released Thursday showed surveillance video from the trooper's patrol car, as well as surveillance video from a Durham restaurant and check cashing store, helped investigators identify Smith and her boyfriend, Mikel Edward Brady, 23.

Police say Smith picked up Brady after the shooting Monday evening and helped him evade authorities.

Brady, of 800 White Pine Drive, allegedly shot Trooper Michael L. Potts in his hands, right shoulder and the right side of his face during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 70 near Cheek Road in Durham.

He fled the scene in a black Nissan Maxima and then ditched that car behind a Mexican restaurant on North Roxboro Street, where Smith allegedly came to get him in a white Honda Prelude.

Using the vehicle identification number, investigators traced the Maxima back to CBS Quality Cars on Highway 70, where Smith purchased the vehicle in January.

Employees at the car lot told investigators that Smith and "her husband, identified as Mike," came to the dealership in a white Honda Prelude. The couple was also seen on security video, according to the warrant.

Brady, who is from Randolph, Vt., was arrested Tuesday at an apartment complex in Raleigh and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

He was in the Durham County jail Wednesday under an $8 million bond, as well as a $2.5 million bond on a felony absconder charge in Vermont.

Potts was released Thursday from Duke University Hospital.


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These double standards in bond exist everywhere, not just when police are victims. A quick read on WRAL over a six month period will leave you scratching your head in dismay.

That being said, I think there IS a greater seriousness to a crime against police. Before GOLO readers pummel me, I am NOT saying that their lives are worth anymore than the average citizen. What I am saying is that someone who will shoot or otherwise attempt to kill a police officer demonstrates the highest level of disregard for the law and society as a whole. If you will kill a cop you won't even hesitate before you kill anyone else who gets in your way. Cop killers are especially dangerous in that you rarely ever see a person whose only crime is shooting a cop. They typically have long very violent rap sheets, like Brady. Lack of respect for life and lack of respect for the laws of society culminates in cop shooting.

"I am no legal scholar but I think her 8th amendment right was violated with this excessive bond. The 8th amendment has been incorporated against the states." - trekkie13

There is a lot more to her involvement than is being released to the general public.

"Are we as a society saying that because you wear a uniform your life is somehow more worthy than a regular citizen? Creating two classes of individuals? Government workers and then the rest of us?" nighttrain2010

Society is not saying there are 2 classes, you are. Over and over again.

I am no legal scholar but I think her 8th amendment right was violated with this excessive bond. The 8th amendment has been incorporated against the states.

werrewolfwoman - you do realize that under any other circumstances of attempted murder, even with a 'flight risk', the bail wouldn't be $8 million dollars right? Let alone an accessory after the fact be $1.5 million? The ONLY reason it is so high is because the victim was a police officer. Are we as a society saying that because you wear a uniform your life is somehow more worthy than a regular citizen? Creating two classes of individuals? Government workers and then the rest of us?

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