Judge recuses himself from hearing bail bondsman case

BRISTOL, Va. – Personal and professional ties have forced a judge to recuse himself from hearing the case against the local bail bondsman accused of hauling the wrong woman to jail Oct. 9.

Bail bondsman J.C. Mullins Jr., of Abingdon Bail Bonds, appeared in Bristol General District Court on Thursday to defend against a misdemeanor obstruction of justice charge.

But Judge Sage B. Johnson moved the case to Feb. 18 to allow the Virginia Supreme Court enough time to find another judge without ties to Mullins.
“I know Mr. Mullins and I know him well,” Johnson said. “I have represented him” as a lawyer.

City police charged Mullins in connection with the investigation of three people accused of posing as drug task force agents to nab a woman thought to have skipped a court hearing. A fourth person is accused of luring the woman to the false agents.

Those four were slated for a preliminary hearing in Johnson’s court Thursday morning. He postponed their cases until Jan. 21 to allow more preparation time for a court-appointed lawyer recently tapped to represent one of the defendants.

“All the attorneys we contacted had conflicts with the case,” Johnson said from the bench.

The judge’s ties to Mullins also extend to his family. Johnson, as a chief general district judge, once supervised the bail bondsman’s son, former Magistrate John C. “Tiny” Mullins III.

The son lost his magistrate’s position last summer amid a Bristol Herald Courier investigation proving that he falsified bail bond documents to direct business to his father.

As a supervisor for local magistrates, Johnson and Chief Circuit Court Judge C. Randall Lowe, tried in March 2008 to head off any appearance of a conflict of interest between father and son, show documents obtained by the Herald Courier.

The judges had Tiny Mullins pledge in writing not to do any bail business with his father. And the father agreed not to post bond for any defendant whose bail had been set by the son, according to the son’s signed pledge.

Tiny Mullins falsified bail bond documents weeks after signing the agreement.

Johnson did not know about the scheme until told by a Herald Courier reporter last summer. His role as a magistrate supervisor ended July 1, 2008, when the state Supreme Court took over the responsibility statewide.

In addition to a police charge, Mullins’ bail bondsman license has been temporarily suspended by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, which licenses bail bondsmen and women.

The misdemeanor obstruction-of-justice charge stems from police allegations that Mullins lied early in the investigation of the false arrest, claiming that he did not previously know any of those involved.

Court records show he bailed one of the people accused of posing as a false agent out of jail last December.

After the false arrest, the trio is accused of handing the handcuffed woman over to Mullins, who police say previously passed around the photo of a different woman as his target. The Bristol Virginia Jail released the woman after determining that she was not the person Mullins initially sought.
Officers eventually arrested Donna Fitzwater, of Bristol, Tenn., Dwayne Peters, of Greeneville, Tenn., and Stacy Matthew Herndon, of Lebanon, Va.

Each is charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer, while Peters and Herndon also are charged with robbery and abduction. Herndon also is charged with object sexual penetration.

Russell County General District Court records show that Mullins bonded Herndon out of jail Dec. 30, 2008, over charges of driving under the influence, driving with a revoked or suspended license, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The fourth person, Doug Roller, of Bristol, Va., has been charged with robbery in connection with the false arrest. He is accused of luring the woman at 2 a.m. to Mumpower Park in Bristol, Va., so the trio could arrest her.

mowens@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2549