Attack suspect’s attorney says insanity defense will be presented at trial.
2 psychologists find him fit
A 24-year-old Benton man accused of trying to rape a woman during a pre-dawn attack at a west Little Rock country club will present an insanity defense at trial, his attorney announced Wednesday.
Pulaski County Circuit Barry Sims pronounced Bradley Michael Baldridge fit to stand trial after two psychologists described how they each diagnosed Baldridge with anxiety disorder in separate court-ordered examinations last year.
Both Kristi Ketz of Batesville and Ed Stafford of Little Rock testified that Baldridge is not mentally ill and told the judge how they arrived at their findings after testing and interviewing Baldridge. His attorney, Bill James, told the judge that his defense will be innocent by reason of mental disease.
Baldridge, formerly of Alexander, is scheduled to stand trial in August. He is facing up to 36 years in prison on charges of attempted rape and second-degree battery after his 2019 arrest at the Pleasant Valley Country Club.
The 53-year-old private club sits on 254 acres north of Pulaski Academy and has a clubhouse dining room, 27-hole golf course, tennis courts and an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Accused of attacking a club employee, Baldrige, who was not a member of the club, was arrested about 90 minutes before sunrise on May 18, 2019, by Little Rock police who reported seeing club surveillance video of Baldridge entering the club through the front door with his pants down and genitals exposed.
The recording reportedly shows Baldridge entering an office where the 41-year-old woman was working. The woman is then seen fleeing the room with Baldridge, his pants still down, running after her, according to authorities.
The video further shows Baldridge chasing her through multiple rooms in the club and down a stairwell before pinning her against a wall in a lounge where he drags her to the floor and starts pulling at her clothes, trying to get her pants off, according to authorities.
Two co-workers, Nereyda Zelaya and Mesak Zapata went to her rescue, pulling Baldridge off the woman and holding him in a chair until officers arrived, the report said. Describing the attack to detectives, the woman said Baldridge grabbed her by the face and squeezed so hard that one of her teeth broke.
Zelaya, 52, reportedly told detectives that she had seen Baldridge about 10 minutes before the attack outside in the club parking lot. She said he had been driving around the lot in a dark-green sport utility vehicle and had parked the vehicle by the front door when she told him to leave, the report said.
Zelaya said she next saw Baldridge partially clothed inside the club chasing the screaming woman and Baldridge pulling at the woman’s clothes, according to the report.
Zapata told investigators that he heard the woman screaming and saw Baldridge drag her to the floor while pulling at her clothes, the report said. Baldridge was too drunk to be questioned, according to the report.
Baldridge, who is free on $20,000 bond, reportedly told the psychologists that he has no memory of what occurred beyond going out with friends the night before the attack to cele- brate changing jobs and having, at most, four drinks about four hours before the 5 a.m. attack.
Baldridge, who has no previous felonies, said he’d never been to the club before, according to the mental-evaluation report.