Covington Georgia Man Accused of Fatal DUI Crash in 2011 Arrested Again For DUI

A Covington man arrested for a DUI and vehicular homicide in 2011 was arrested again for DUI.  A possible emergency bond revocation hearing could keep him behind bars for a while.  He will need a top-rated Rockdale County DUI Lawyer.

Ricky Todd Guice, 41, was arrested Sunday after running into the back of a car at a traffic light on Ga. 278.  He was out on bond within a few hours, which has greatly upset the family of 74-year-old Sarah Maddox Belcher, the victim in the 2011 case.

Apparently Guice has quite a DUI history.  Just a few weeks before the crash that claimed the life of Ms. Belcher, he was arrested for DUI in June 2011.

When Belcher's family saw that Guice had been arrested for DUI after her death, they contacted the District Attorney in hopes that he would takes steps to incarcerate Mr. Guide, pending trial.

What a court considers at a bond hearing is instructive as to why Mr. Guice' bond will likely be revoked.

At a bond hearing the factors a judge considers include:

Whether the charged offense is “bailable,” meaning does the judge even have authority to grant bond based on the offense to which the defendant is accused.  For example, a Superior Court Judge, not a magistrate (due to the seriousness of a charge) can only grant some bonds.  Additionally, some offenses carry no bond.

The second factor a judge considers is whether the accused posses a significant risk of fleeing the jurisdiction, and as a result fail to appear in court.  When deciding this issue, most judges consider both the nature of the offense charged and the defendant's ties to the community.

The relevance of ties to the community should make sense to most readers.   However, most people misunderstand why the nature of the offense matters.  When a person is charged with an offense that carries a significant chance of long-term incarceration, there is a strong risk that the accused would fail to appear in court.  When faced with serious punishment, many people would consider absconding.

The third factor is whether the accused poses a threat or danger to the community or to real or personal property in the community.

The final factor is whether the accused poses a significant risk of committing a violent felony pending trial.

Clearly, Mr. Guice faces the likely revocation of his bond because of the fact that he posses a risk to the community.  His arrest for DUI while on bond for a Vehicular Homicide is clear evidence that he is a risk to the community.

My expectation is that Mr. Guice will be held in custody until he goes to trial or enters a plea of guilty to the Vehicular Homicide.