Judge Marsha Bergan Lets A First Degree Murder Suspect Of A Child Out On Bail

Here's another dead-behind-the-eyes Judge who needs to be thrown out at the next opportunity:  Judge Marsha Bergan of District 6.  This is from the Quad City Times:

Murder suspect Zachary Connell was released on supervision from the Scott County Jail after a court hearing Friday afternoon.

The 20-year-old Davenport man faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of 3-year-old Addison Baldwin. He also is charged with child endangerment resulting in death. An autopsy showed the child died from blunt force trauma.

As conditions of his release, Connell will stay at his parents’ Davenport home and cannot leave Scott County. He also will wear a GPS tracking device and cannot contact the child’s mother, Vanessa Baldwin.

He was released on $50,000 cash bond, pending his trial.

Davenport police arrested Connell a week ago. He was Addison’s caretaker on Oct. 12 when he took the toddler to Genesis Medical Center, East Rusholme Street, Davenport, police said. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Vanessa Baldwin, who lived with Connell in his apartment, was at work at the time.

At the hearing Friday, Scott Brown of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, who is prosecuting the case, said Connell is a threat to Vanessa Baldwin and should not be released from jail.

Davenport Police Detective Brandon Noonan, who interviewed Baldwin twice, testified that Connell had a pattern of violent behavior against her prior to the child’s death. He said Connell struck Baldwin on two occasions since June, when she moved in with him, and had threatened to kill her over a financial matter...

...Judge Marsha Bergan, who normally works in another judicial district, ordered Connell’s release from jail Friday morning. She was brought in specifically to preside over the case.

First-degree murder is a Class A felony that carries a mandatory life in prison sentence upon conviction. An Iowa Department of Corrections official said giving supervised release to Class A felony suspects prior to trial is rare.

“In the last 10 years, we might have had five,” said Jim Wayne, regional director for the 7th Judicial District. “It’s not very common, but it does occur.”

Wayne said the decision to keep Class A felony suspects in jail depends not so much on the charge but more on their flight risk and whether they might harm themselves or others.

Connell currently is the only murder suspect on supervised release in the 7th Judicial District, Wayne said.

Let's look at the background of Judge Marsha Bergan. Maybe the Iowa Judicial Nomination Commission will suggest her appointment to the Iowa Supreme Court after this one:

Judge Marsha Bergan was appointed to serve Johnson County as a magistrate in 1988. She was appointed to serve as a District Court Judge in 2007. She earned her bachelor's degree from Luther College in 1973, and her law degree from the University of Iowa in 1977. Judge Bergan served as Johnson County Magistrate for 18 years while in private practice in Iowa City for 25 years. She also served as a substitute hospitalization referee. Prior to private practice, she worked for Legal Services Corporation as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and later co-managing attorney of the Iowa City Legal Aid office. In 2005 she received the Iowa Judicial Branch annual Meritorious Award for Part-time Judicial Officers. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Iowa State Bar Association, and the Johnson County Bar Association. She is a master member of the Dean Mason Ladd American Inn of Court and a fellow in the Iowa State Bar Foundation. She served on the board of governors of the Iowa State Bar Association and on the board of directors of the Iowa Association of Magistrate Judges. She held the office of president of the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys. She served as vice-chair of the Iowa Board of Law Examiners.

She's got liberal bed-wetter written all over her CV, doesn't she?

What a great idea.  Let a murder suspect with a history of violence and a restraining order against him out on a cash bail with just GPS monitoring.  What in the world!