“No sound, rational and fair criminal justice system requires the pre-trial release of criminal defendants who demonstrate such determination to continuously commit serious crimes”
By Ellen Moynihan and Wes Parnell
New York Daily News
January 19, 2020
An accused serial bank robber who sparked outrage for continuing his spree in Brooklyn after state judges let him go free is now aiming to be granted bail from a federal judge.
Gerod Woodberry, 42, after being released without bail multiple times in state courts, was ordered held in federal lockup by a Brooklyn federal judge on Sunday pending a bail hearing slated for Friday.
The bail hearing had been scheduled for Sunday but was postponed because Woodberry wasn’t yet able to demonstrate how much money he and his family could put up.
Federal prosecutor Jack Dennehy asked Sunday that Woodberry be held without bail until he is tried, arguing he "is a danger to the community.” But Magistrate Judge Steven Gold said the bail hearing will happen.
“How can I deny him?” asked Gold, referring to Woodberry’s right to present a bail package.
Woodberry, who has allegedly robbed six banks over the past 16 days, is being federally charged for the robbery of a Chase Bank on Flatbush Ave. near Nevins St. in Downtown Brooklyn on Jan. 10th — just hours after he was released without bail by a state judge despite being accused of a string of robberies.
Woodberry showed up at Manhattan Criminal Court to turn himself in for the latest robbery about 3:30 p.m. Friday, according to sources. He was locked up by the NYPD — and later handed over to the FBI to face federal charges.
“This robbery spree is unprecedented and it is made all the more so by the fact that he was actually arrested and released in the midst of his crimes,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement on Friday.
“No sound, rational and fair criminal justice system requires the pre-trial release of criminal defendants who demonstrate such determination to continuously commit serious crimes.”
Prosecutors on Sunday said Woodberry has a lengthy rap sheet including five strong arm robberies between 2009 and 2018 in South Carolina where Woodberry is from.
Judge Gold was baffled how Woodberry was in Brooklyn when he was issued a 15-year sentence for his 2018 South Carolina robbery.
“I don’t know how he’s arrested in South Carolina in 2018 and he’s in Brooklyn now," said Gold.
Woodberry was supposed to be in the can for eight years after seven years had been taken off his sentence, according to court documents.
“If he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and seven were suspended, that leaves him with eight," said Dennehy, also confused how Woodberry was able to be in Brooklyn.
Woodberry’s defender, Samuel Jacobson, asked the court to dismiss the case on the grounds that the complaint was “bare bones,” claiming the case was more about making a point about bail reform than what his client had done.
He also said there’d been too much publicity.
“Dismissal is absolutely appropriate given how egregious the ethical complaints are,” Jacobson said.
“There was a pretty large scale blitz by the U.S. Attorney’s office . . . essentially making Mr. Woodberry’s case a referendum on bail reform,” said Jacobson, noting the press statements issued by Donoghue.
Jacobson was asking the judge to prevent the U.S. Attorney from sending out press releases on the case.
“You’re saying the public shouldn’t be made aware of an indictment in this press-worthy case?” Gold asked.
The new reforms that went into effect this month abolish bail for many crimes but allow state judges to set bail if an offender repeatedly commits a felony while awaiting a court date for a previous felony.
Supporters of the reforms argue that bail could have been set in Woodberry’s case by the next state judge he saw. They accuse federal prosecutors of grandstanding in the Woodberry case as a way of critiquing the reforms.
“Under the new bail laws, which we drafted after years of deliberation and consultation with all stakeholders, including prosecutors and law enforcement, anyone re-arrested on a felony charge, like Mr. Woodberry, is eligible for bail," Assemblymember Michael Blake in a statement responding to Donoghue.
“In this case, involvement by the U.S. Attorney is an opportunistic ploy from those who have a political agenda to undo our historic reforms.”
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