...here's where we'll do it.
Scott found a useful website for checking on the case of John Bloxham (Todd's assailant) online:
Virginia District Court in Fairfax County:
http://208.210.219.132/vadistrict/select.jsp
From there select "Fairfax County General District" court and click on "Begin."
Then select "Criminal."
At the next screen enter "GC07132206-00" in the case number field on the right, or enter "Bloxham, John" in the name field on the left. Hit "Search."
Also, here's a useful link for understanding the Fairfax County court process in general:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/courts/cjsdesc.htm
As of this moment, here is where things stand:
On July 2nd, a magistrate ruled that John would be held in jail without bond. (Yippee!) However, that ruling is still subject to review by a judge, who may or may not decide to uphold it. John has no prior record, has ties to the community, etc. etc. His attorney may argue that holding him without bond is unreasonable for any number of reasons. On July 9th, I sent an email to our V/WAP (Victim/Witness Assistance Program) rep asking when this review by a judge will take place, along with a few other questions. I'll update this post when I learn something.
John also has until July 25th to get an attorney. More accurately, he has until July 25th to retain counsel and have said counsel go on record with the court as being his defense. If he doesn't have an attorney by then, the court will appoint one for him. If I'm not mistaken, he can also expedite the process by requesting court-appointed counsel prior to the 25th.
September 10th is the date currently set for his preliminary hearing, which is where he'll enter a plea. It is extremely possible that John's attorney will file a motion to have that date postponed, so don't hold your breath.
The Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney's office (703-246-2776) will appoint a prosecuting attorney to lead the case, but probably not until about three weeks (give or take) prior to the trial. In the meantime, the detectives are conducting their investigation.
The Investigation Itself:
It's important to remember that this is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477 or Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.
The investigation is being headed by the wonderful Det. Steven Shillingford of the Fairfax County Police Homicide Division. His office number is 703-246-7858. He can be paged at 703-612-0142. If you have any information at all that might pertain to this case, you can also give him a ring.
John Bloxham is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (703-246-2178).
Thanks!
Lisa
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7 comments:
By the way, there is some information I don't think any of us should post in this blog, including:
The name and contact info of our W/VAP rep -- she doesn't need to be inundated. If someone has a question that they want to ask her, contact Dad. (I sent her an email myself today, but that was with Dad's blessing. Dad is our family spokesperson in this matter.)
Specific details of the investigation shared with us by the detective. Stuff like that just doesn't need to be fed into the public sphere.
Anything else we're unsure about. I suggest that we all follow the rule, "If in doubt, keep it private."
Love,
Lisa
Also, here's a link to the police department's inital press release regarding the shooting:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/reports/reports2007/070107homicidephillipsdrive.htm
Love,
Lisa
Regarding the bond review by a judge, here is the response from our V/WAP rep:
"I do not know when bond motions occur because there is rarely any notice given. However, I will email a request for the prosecutor who gets the case to call your father if there is a pending motion. I cannot guarantee that this will occur, but I will forward the request and let you know what I hear back. If you do receive notice of a bond hearing, then members of your family and/or Carrie may be able to speak...it would be up to the prosecutor though. The system provides defendants with rights that ensure they are innocent until proven guilty, so it would be likely that Mr. Bloxham receives a bond of some sort..."
Here's some information about the charge(s) filed against John and the penalties he will face if convicted, according to Virginia statutory law.
I want to preface this by saying that I'm not overjoyed at sharing this information. My anger toward John is at a pretty low ebb right now, and besides that, I don't relish the thought of anyone facing these kinds of punishments. Nevertheless, I'm a person who finds comfort in knowing the facts, and maybe some of you are too. So here we go:
John is currently being charge with murder in the first degree, which is punishable as a Class 2 felony. That means if he's convicted, he'll be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, and possibly a fine of up to $100,000.
If the police wind up charging him in Devon's death as well, that will substantially worsen his situation. Because Todd and Devon were both killed within a three-year time frame, their combined cases would make for a capital murder charge, which is a Class 1 felony. If convicted in both cases, he would be sentenced to death OR life imprisonment, and possibly a fine of up to $100,000.
The above information is paraphrased from Title 18.2 of the Virginia State Code. However, there's still Title 53.1 of the Code, which covers parole eligibility. I'm tempted to call this the "Just Kidding" part of criminal law, but I can also see how it might serve some legitimate purposes. Anyway...
John will not be eligible for parole if: (1) he receives the death sentence; (2) he is convicted of a third separate charge of murder, rape, or robbery with a deadly weapon AND the Parole Board agrees that he shouldn't be eligible; (3) he is given a life sentence, somehow escapes custody, and is re-captured; (4) he's given a life sentence, is paroled, and is then convicted of another crime and given another life sentence; or (5) a few other scenarios that are also unlikely and that I won't paraphrase here because they're complicated.
Barring those exceptions, here's a basic rundown of when John would be eligible for parole, based on the assumption that this would be his first time in prison:
* If he's given a life sentence, he'll be up for parole after 15 years.
* If he's given two life sentences, he'll be up for parole after 20 years.
* If he's given less than a life sentence (i.e., a certain number of years), he'll be up for parole upon serving 1/4 of the term imposed, or 12 years, whichever is less.
So there you have it. It will be a long time before any of this plays out, but at least we can understand the rules a little better.
Love,
Lisa
Motion for Judge to Review Bond Status:
Ahem. Since John has now retained a defense attorney (Mr. James C. Love, Esq.), we're anticipating that said attorney will soon be filing a motion to get John's bond status reviewed (and, they hope, overturned) by a judge. It's unlikely that anyone will notify us when this filing occurs, so we'll be proactively watching for it ourselves. A lovely and wonderful friend has volunteered to call each day on our behalf. (Thank you!) Mr. Love et al will have until 3pm to file the motion in order for the judge to review it the following day. If we have a heads up, we can show up in court and (maybe) even be allowed to put in our two cents.
Prayers that John stays off the streets are always in order.
It's funny, but even though we're entering a stage where things might not go the way we want, I personally feel better knowing that the process is moving forward. What's that saying? "The worst is better than not knowing at all." Before long, we'll know his final bond status. And then we can move from there.
Love,
Lisa
Long live Katie Swart! She's the Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney (ACA) prosecuting Todd's case. Thank you, Katie!
- Lisa
Last Thursday, John's attorney filed a motion for a judge to review his bond status. The hearing was on Friday, and the judge denied his request.
John's attorney immediately filed an appeal which will be reviewed by the Circuit Court in a hearing tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. We understand it is unlikely he'll fare any better with the Circuit Court. We consider him unsafe, so of course that's fine with us.
We do feel very badly for John's family. His mother passed away just a few days after hearing what her son had done. She was already in poor health, but evidently the news was literally more than she could take. I've heard they are planning on holding services for her in Kansas, where she's originally from. We will be praying for her loved ones, and we invite others to pray for them also. Any comfort they can receive at this time will, I'm sure, be needed.
As far as John goes, we are still working on forgiving him. I imagine the news of his mother's death is, at last in part, what has prompted the bond motion being filed at this particular time. Maybe he thinks he'll get out for the funeral, but it's not looking like it. I'm not excited about seeing him suffer purely for suffering's sake, but I've gathered from certain people that he's been feeling pretty sorry for himself since his arrest. Maybe this kind of suffering is what his soul needs to feel in order to come around... that's assuming he ever comes around, which I don't think any of us will be holding our breath for. That part is out of our hands.
This whole business has been very sad.
Love,
Lisa
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