A convicted killer Joseph Oberhansley was given a reduced bond allowing him to be set free and a local woman is dead apparently at his hands less than 2 months later. Oberhansley convicted of killing his girlfriend in Utah in 2000 has been charged with 2 violent felonies here locally in the last 2 years. After the latest charge his bond was set at $25000 cash but for some unexplained reason was reduced to $ 5000 which was posted less than two months ago and he was released.Deputy prosecutor Jeremy Mull said he wasn't aware that Oberhansley's bond had been reduced that someone else in the prosecutors office agreed to the reduction in Judge Joe Weber's court. Why would a man convicted of killing, and with two violent felonies pending here locally (one was strangulation) be allowed a reduced bond ???
The Clark Co. prosecutor's office has some big explaining to do as this appears to be another grievous incident of a lack of institutional control and judgement in our justice system., by the prosecutorial and judicial departments that is supposed to protect us citizens of Clark Co. There needs to be an immediate investigation and explanation why, who and what steps were responsible for this terrible mistake and lack of good judgement that appears to have cost a woman her life.
Another sad day in Clark Co....We need answers now....
The WLKY news story and video below
Convicted killer charged with murder in Jeffersonville homicide | Local News - WLKY Home
Why was his parole not revoked?
ReplyDeleteJudge Weber is so liberal.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the on line court records,the deputy prosecutor who agreed to the lower bond for this defendant was Ben Read. Ben just left the prosecutor's office last Friday, September 5th, to take another job. Ben obviously should have checked with Jeremy Mull or Steve Stewart prior to agreeing to the lower bond, which was requested by the defense attorney, Niles Driskell. Ben and Niles would have to explain why and how they came to the agreement for the lower bond.
ReplyDeleteA revocation of his parole in Utah would have been up to the authorities in that jurisdiction to initiate and request a warrant to hold the defendant in jail. The fact that Utah did not take any steps to get a warrant may have been a factor in the agreement reducing the bond.
How does one prosecutor get to go behind another's back and pull this shit?
ReplyDeleteYes, an investigation. Mr. Read needs to explain himself.
Where did he get a job? With whom?
Would this be the same judge Weber that let his community service person (wink, wink) take a convicted felon out of the jail to move furniture out of Jacobi's house?
ReplyDeleteI always thought his official title was "judges driver" as I have heard him referred to. Kinda funny seeing the two of them driving to lunch together in that big blue gas guzzling county truck. Always makes me thin of driving Ms. Daisy.
ReplyDeleteDon't believe that Judge Weber is much to blame here. it appears that both parties defense and prosecution agreed and signed off on the bond reduction.
ReplyDeleteThe Clark Co. prosecutor Stewart IMO owes the public and the victims family a explanation to the events and reasoning behind this man's bond being reduced (though I seriously doubt that will happen)...it looks to be a serious turn of events that caused a woman to lose her life....
According to Pesty if Mr Read had only made more money in the prosecutor's office he wouldn't have agreed to a lower bond...?
ReplyDeleteAmen!
ReplyDeleteNot to defend the decision to reduce the bond, it was a horrible mistake, but as to how one deputy prosecutor might do this and not consult one of his superiors first and the superiors might not be aware, keep in mind that the prosecutor's office in Clark County is one of the busiest and most under-staffed in the State. The office handles around 5,000 cases, give or take, each year, not counting juvenile cases, traffic and child support matters. As has been stated on another web site, there are not enough prosecutors, courts or judges to handle the load of cases in Clark County. The unfortunate reality is that it is inevitable that things are going to get missed, mistakes made, etc., with the strain on the system.
ReplyDeleteMost likely, the DPA agreed to a lower bond so that this defendant could go into treatment for drug/alcohol dependency, that he apparently didn't go to, and because Utah did not place a hold for the parole violation. This is just a guess. The defendant was charged with Level 6/class D felonies and the $5,000 court cash bond is the standard bond amount for Level 6/D felony crimes. The mistake was treating this defendant like just another person charged with those same crimes. The DPA should have consulted his superiors before agreeing to the lower bond.
People want most, if not all, criminal defendants kept in jail, but the jail also isn't big enough to do that and the reality is we couldn't ever build one that would be. Everyone wants a better judicial system, but no one wants to pay for it (i.e., higher taxes). The Clark County Jail population is always at or near capacity. Most of the defendants need treatment for drug and/or alcohol addiction. So most of the time, when a Judge is presented with an agreement to lower a bond, he/she will go along with it to reduce over-crowding in the jail and get a defendant into treatment. (Not a factor in this case necessarily, but the Sheriff also has the authority on his own in Indiana to release people from jail who are charged with only misdemeanors and low-level felonies to reduce over-crowding and this often occurs.)
Another unfortunate aspect of this case is that the victim probably is the person who posted the bond to get this guy out of jail. One of the TV stations has shown footage from Jefferson County where she was pleading with the Judge to release him after his arrest there related to the car chase. She probably knew, (or thought she knew) him better than anyone and wanted him released from jail at that time. That's not blaming her for what he did to her, but it is a very sad fact in this case.
These things are all part of the larger picture of this case and what occurred.
Mull is trying to throw folks under the bus....he filed the case and he got the high bond. You want us to believe he got hoodwinked by a flunky? First it was judge webers Galt ....then when that didn't fly it was a deal made he didn't know about.. What's next? The tooth fairy messed it up?
ReplyDeleteYou have any proof Anon. that Mull is is "throwing people under the bus." Seems to me if he (Mull) originally requested a higher bail he wouldn't back down since the guy had a violent history and wouldn't make his claims on tv unless warranted.
ReplyDeleteThe best way to explain this would be for Co. prosecutor Stewart to explain to the public just exactly what happened....bout more than likely that won't happen...
If you have proof of your claim just post or e-mail it to me and I will print it...
What proof? In the original Evening News story Mull says Weber reduced the bond.
ReplyDeleteIn the TV story and the updated news story, he now says "someone" of his underlings agreed to reduce it.
So, first he blames the Judge. What proof do you need? It's in the paper as his quote. Guess that didn't hold up so then it's all the fautl of somebody else in his office.
That is what most people would call BLAMING OTHERS for what happened. It sure is true that blaming the judge was baloney. So now you can't help wonder if the new fall guy or gal deserves the blame.
Nobody thinks these people wanted this to happen. So why does Mr. Mull have to blame the judge? I see people on Facebook ripping Judge Weber over this ...because of what Mull said. He ought to publicly take back what he said about the man. He also ought to lay out EXACTLY what really happened and explain how it happened without him knowing what was going on. Either that or just stop blaming everybody but himself.
First story: "“I went and spoke with Judge Weber and explained to him that I thought the defendant [Oberhansley] to be dangerous, based on his past criminal history and his current conduct,” Mull said. “In response to that conversation and my request, Judge Weber changed that bond on that warrant to $25,000 cash only.”
ReplyDeleteOberhansley was arrested under the warrant on July 28, and three days later, Weber reduced the bond to $5,000 court-cash and Oberhansley was released from the jail on a payment of $505.
“That was done without my knowledge or approval. He was released and soon thereafter committed this crime,” Mull said of Blanton’s death." 9-11-14
Then he says: "He said when Read made the bond modification agreement with Driskell, it was done “without my knowledge or my approval.
“That was done by a deputy prosecutor after I had tried to keep him [Oberhansley] in jail on a high-cash bond,” Mull said." 9-12-14
Blames the judge...then blames his deputy.
You seem to imply that Mull wasn't telling the truth. In my opinion he (Mull) is just relating the facts. If you read my earlier post I said "Don't believe Judge Weber is much to blame here"
ReplyDeleteBut Weber did ok the the agreement between Read and the defense Attorney. Something Mull wasn't aware or cool with and he was upset with the decisions of both Weber and Read.
I guess you can label it "throwing them under the bus" but it seems to me he was just relating what actually happened.
If this isn't what happened Clark Co. prosecutor Steve Stewart needs to step forward and set the record straight.
Your implication that Mull is lying is unfounded unless you can prove otherwise....
No...not saying Mull is lying. But why the heck is he BLAMING people? It wasn't true when he first made out like Judge Weber reduced the bail on his own or something. That didn't happen. Maybe Mull didn't know anything and assumed that is what must have happened. He should have said nothing until he knew the facts in my opinion. And when it was wrong....he should have apologized. He is making it out like Weber has blood on his hands for letting this creep out of jail. Then he goes and blames the other deputy. You know...the one that works UNDER him!
ReplyDeleteHow about stop blaming other people and start just doing the job?
As for Steve Stewart, yes we can agree he needs to speak out on this because apparently all the people under him are having trouble getting the story straight. Bottom line, I don't thing people appreciate officials who spend more time blaming others for screw ups that happen on their watch than just, as you said about Hutt, STFU. Do your job for goodness sake and stop trying to throw blood on other people.
Here's another point that makes all this protest and blame seem kind of lame.
ReplyDeleteMull says how he recognized this guy was a danger to the community...how he made a special point to see a high bond was set. Ok...sounds good.
But, remember, this isn't the only case this KILLER has going on. Look what happened on it. He was charged with STRANGULATION and RLE back in Jyly of 2013. But....the only bond set was $1000. Why didn't somebody in the prosecutor's office raise his bond or get a higher bond THEN? If they had maybe NONE of this stuff would have happened. If they KNEW he was dangerous in 2014...why didn't they know it in 2013?
Wait. I am sure it's some one else's fault.
Someone died and you're sweating some blaming? Someone needs to be blamed, damnit!
ReplyDeleteMull wasn't involved in the strangulation case...
ReplyDeleteHe may have been a little over the top blaming Weber but all in all he was just relaying the facts something his boss refuses to do....
Is there not a reason that the JUDGE has to sign off on reducing the bond. I don't care what another prosecutor and defense attorney agreed to I would want to call Jeremy and run it by him since he had me raise it and said the guy was dangerous. And Stewarts remarks are comical, he would have done it regardless of when he was released. Well we don't know that do we. This sounds familiar
ReplyDeletehttp://local.wfpl.org/kycir/hooten/
NO BOND. Why was there even a question as to letting this murderer out on bond. Violent, dangerous ex-con. Arrested for being naked and strangling a person and leading the police on a chase. Danger to the community, and the judge claims he could not detain him. What horse....! Judges do it all the time. To claim they are locked in to what the prosecutor recommends is total nonsense. That's why they are the judge. Was this not the same judge that put Hooten, a violent sex offender on probation for a sex offense. HELLO! Don't want to piss off the prosecutor now, do we. He might be of the same political party. Politics reek. And I believe Jacobi put Hooten on probation for a drug offense. I feel safe already.
ReplyDelete