Denies request for supervised release
Synopsis: Judge grants Dale Fullwood another reduction in bond, setting it to $1,000 per count. Fullwood is charged with two counts of possession of child
and needs to come up with $2,000 to go free.
SARASOTA - Dale Fullwood's testimony Wednesday convinced a judge to lower his bond.
Fullwood told Circuit Court Judge Charles Roberts that he has lived in Florida since 1977, owns a home in Cape Coral, has family nearby and was employed when he was arrested. He also has about $800 in his checking account.
Fullwood is the father of 6-year-old Coralrose who was found on Sept. 17 slain in a construction site near her Calabash Lane home in North Port.
Roberts granted Fullwood's request to lower his bond. Roberts set bond at $1,000 per count for possession of child
. However, Fullwood's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Adam Tebrugge, wanted a supervised release or nonmonetary release.
At press time, Fullwood had not posted bond and was still in jail.
Tebrugge said he would wait until next week to see if Fullwood can post bond before he does anything else.
Tebrugge said he could not speculate whether Fullwood would be able to raise the $2,000 or get a bondsman to accept $200 and $1,800 in collateral.
Fullwood was arrested Oct. 12 and charged with two counts of possession of child
. Police allegedly found videos on his computer at his North Port home.
Fullwood told Roberts he has a wife and four children in Florida, and a brother who lives in Cape Coral. He also testified that he still maintains a "close relationship" to his in-laws (Saul and Doreen VanderWoude of Fort Myers).
If he were to be released, Fullwood said he would live in his Cape Coral home. His wife, Ellen-Beth, has also moved out of their North Port home.
Assistant State Attorney Steven Zimath said he believed the court "got it right the first time" when it set Fullwood's bond at $50,000.
Zimath said there are various forms of child
, and the court was correct in calling what Fullwood allegedly had on his computer as the "worst kind."
Zimath argued that Fullwood does not have ties to Sarasota County. All his family lives in Lee County.
Tebrugge then asked Fullwood where he was living when he was arrested, and he replied "in Sarasota County."
"Do you still have your keys, or did your wife (Ellen-Beth) turn them in?" Zimath asked Fullwood.
"No, I still have my keys," Fullwood said. "I was never asked to give them back."
Zimath asked Fullwood if he had a job waiting for him.
When Zimath asked Fullwood whether he knew if the bar where he worked was under new ownership, and Fullwood said yes.
"The new owners said they wanted me to work for them," Fullwood said.
Chief Circuit Judge Robert Bennett initially set Fullwood's bond at $50,000. The arrest warrant Bennett signed had $25,000 bond handwritten on it.
Last week, Tebrugge was granted his petition in the Second District Court of Appeal, claiming Fullwood was being illegally jailed. Roberts responded to the appeals court and lowered Fullwood's bond to $10,000.
Tebrugge said he was not satisfied, and filed a second motion to rehear a bond reduction. Tebrugge said in is motion Fullwood does not have any money to post the $10,000 bond, and is willing to provide testimony on his character and ties to the community.
Roberts stated in his reply to the appeals court since no testimony on Fullwood's character and ties to the community was given, he could not justify a lower bond.
During the investigation into Coralrose's murder officers found the
on the computer and subsequently arrested him. North Port Chief Terry Lewis has repeatedly said the arrest is not connected with the murder investigation.
Four other children living with Dale and Ellen-Beth, were taken from them and currently live with the VanderWoudes in Fort Myers.
The couple has several custody hearings in Sarasota scheduled for early in 2007. They each have separate court-appointed lawyers for the hearings.
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