A Whetstone man arrested Wednesday after trying multiple times to contact a woman in violation of a court order issued when he was charged in March with stalking and repeatedly harassing the same woman cannot be released from jail pending trial unless he posts a $50,000 performance bond.
Timothy Earl Wells was taken into custody by the Sierra Vista Police Department on Wednesday for new charges of harassment. He was ordered by a justice of the peace to be held in the Cochise County jail until a bail eligibility hearing could be conducted in Cochise County Superior Court. On Thursday, Wells appeared via video from jail for that hearing.
A defendant is typically required to post an appearance or surety bond in order to be released from custody pending trial. Such bonds can only be forfeited upon order of a judge if the defendant fails to appear for a hearing or trial.
But Judge Timothy Dickerson ruled Thursday that Wells, 62, must post a performance bond if he wants to await trial out of jail. A performance bond can be forfeited if a defendant fails to appear for court, but has an added forfeiture feature if the defendant does not perform all promised conditions of release.
In Wells’ case, that means any further alleged violations of the no contact order would put him back in jail and he would lose whatever property or assets was put up as collateral for the $50,000 bond.
“No contact means no contact,” the judge sternly told Wells. Dickerson explained that the ban on contact with the victim applies even if it appears she wants to have contact with Wells. The prohibition also includes using third parties as intermediaries in an attempt to skirt the order.
Public records show Wells was in court May 12 for an Early Resolution hearing on the charges from March. Afterward, he admittedly engaged in multiple attempts to contact the victim in that case, something court-appointed defense attorney Dean LeVay characterized as “a mistake” during Thursday’s hearing.
Terisha Driggs of the Cochise County Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the two cases against Wells.