Stats show murder suspects being out on bond isn't uncommon in NC

The idea that someone charged with murder would be able to just walk out of the jail doors and be right back on the streets is scary to a lot of people.

Wake County leaders say that doesn't happen here. But elsewhere, it happens more often than you might think.

A Nash County murder suspect out on bond, arrested for having a gun and drugs. In Rowan County, a released murder suspect charged with shooting up an apartment complex on Tuesday.

The examples show the situation in Robeson County was not an outlier.

"Durham has a lot more out on bond than a lot of other counties," said defense attorney Daniel Meier.

The WRAL Investigates team went through court records and found more than twenty people charged with murder in Durham who are not listed as being in the jail.

In Cumberland County, officials say of 100 people charged with murder, 17 are out on bond. In Orange County, it's three out of 15. In Chatham, four of 11.

"A lot of the key is why are you out of custody. if they set the bond at a million dollars and you post it, there's not a lot you can do to stop that," Meier said.

In Robeson County, the man now accused of shooting two deputies had posted a 250 thousand dollar bond, for first-degree murder.

"That's low for a murder that's fairly new, especially with his prior record," Meier said. "But we don't know, there may have been shaky evidence."

Under North Carolina law, those charged with first-degree murder can always be denied bond by a judge.

A new state law that took effect last month..makes that the case for a number of other serious crimes, too.

"The primary purpose in that situation is to protect the public safety," said Rep. Abe Jones

Jones was one of the bill's sponsors.

"Well my intent, having been a judge for 17 years at the superior court level, was to make sure that the judges had a right to shut the door if necessary," Jones said.

When pressed about what happened in Robeson County on Tuesday, Jones was asked if he thinks there's anything he or legislators could do to prevent cases like that.

"No, I don't think so," he said.

Jones said it's up to prosecutors to make a strong case to the judge, about why a judge should set no bond, or at least, a substantial one.

The WRAL Investigates team reached out to about 20 counties in our area asking how many people charged with first-degree murder are out on bond. We're waiting to hear back from a number of them.

As for Wake County, the District Attorney told us there are zero first-degree murder suspects out on bond.