A Philadelphia woman was ordered held in jail after she was arrested for driving a vehicle in Atlantic City with guns for the second time in 2½ months.
Tierra Barnes, 28, wiped tears away Wednesday as the judge told her she would remain in the Atlantic County Justice Facility until her case is resolved.
The public safety assessment, which is used to help determine whether a defendant is detained under bail reform, recommended Barnes' release. But Assistant Prosecutor Paige Cramer argued that it didn't take Barnes' out-of-state criminal history, which includes assault, endangering, conspiracy, harassment, various theft arrests and drug charges.
Judge Dorothy Garrabrant agreed that the assessment did not accurately reflect the danger posed by Barnes.
Within three months in the state, the defendant incurred 11 pending charges, including nine that were related to weapons, the judge noted.
A 9 mm handgun was in the vehicle according to the charges. But a judge refused to sign a warrant to jail her at the time, Atlantic City police said.
Then on Oct. 9, police saw a silver van with blue sliding door that matched the description of one that was reported as having guns inside, according to the affidavit obtained by BreakingAC.
Barnes was given several driving citations, including driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle without a license, court records show.
The van was impounded until police received ore tips about there being two guns inside, the affidavit states. It was moved to the forensics bay, where Officer Jesse Oliver-Logan's K-9 partner, Gee, gave a positive indication that there were narcotics inside.
A warrant was issued by Judge William Miller, the affidavit states.
A search Oct. 25 located two handguns, three extended magazines, hollow-point ammunition, drug paraphernalia and a camo ski mask, according to the affidavit.
Barnes was ultimately arrested Feb. 3, and remains in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
Her attorney described Barnes as "gainfully employed" doing "home care," and pointed to her lack of previous indictable convictions.
The van was not registered to Barnes, the defense argued, and cited the public safety assessment recommending release.
But that wasn't enough to free her.
"So there's no way I can get PTI (pretrial intervention) or nothing?" Barnes asked the judge.
The judge said that would be for a discussion between her and her attorney.
"There's really nothing you could tell me today that would change my decision relative to detention," Garrabrant told her.
