A Sierra Vista attorney indicted in March after his ex-wife was injured during an altercation outside her home is accused of violating a no-contact court order for the second time since his arrest, public records reveal.
Paul “Randy” Randall Bays is alleged to have violated his court ordered pretrial release conditions by soliciting a mutual friend to relay information about the case to his ex-wife. He is also accused of opening a gate and driving onto the ex-wife’s property in violation of a separate Order of Protection obtained by the ex-wife.
Bays, 60, is a two-time judicial candidate to the Cochise County Superior Court and the longtime attorney for the city of Tombstone. He is charged with eight counts, including aggravated assault and domestic violence kidnapping for a March 8 altercation partially captured on his ex-wife’s cell phone.
Both of Bays’ young children were present during the incident, although it’s unclear how much they heard or saw, or whether they will be called to testify if the case goes to trial.
Hours after the arrest, a justice of the peace ordered Bays released from the Cochise County jail on personal recognizance, meaning he didn’t have to post bail nor be subject to third-party supervision. The order outlining Bays’ conditions of release included a number of rules, including no direct or indirect contact with his ex-wife and no leaving the state without a judge’s permission.
However, last week prosecutor Elizabeth Burton Ortiz accused Bays of recently using a mutual friend to contact the ex-wife about accepting a $20,000 payment to get the criminal case dismissed.
Ortiz, from Phoenix, is prosecuting Bays on behalf of the Cochise County Attorney’s Office to avoid conflicts due to Bays’ ongoing representation of clients in various local courts. She has asked Judge James Marner of the Pima County Superior Court to reconsider Bays’ release conditions.
The alleged no-contact violation will be taken up by Marner during a Sept. 24 pretrial conference in Tucson. The hearing start at 10 a.m. and is open to the public. A trial date is also expected to be announced at the hearing.
In May, Ortiz advised the court of a letter about the case which was passed by Bays to his ex-wife through the couple’s divorce attorneys. The judge was also told that shortly after his arrest Bays asked a mutual friend to relay information to his ex-wife.
Marner is presiding over Bays’ case because all six of Cochise County’s superior court judges recused themselves due to conflicts. He cautioned Bays in open court, warning that any further alleged violation of the no-contact orders could result in a change to Bays’ release conditions.