Man gets bond while appealing sentence

Two weeks after he was sentenced to prison for 10 years in a homicide case, a Riviera Beach man convinced a judge to let him stay with relatives while his appeal is pending.

Rodney Chavers, 43, was convicted of manslaughter in April for the Nov. 13, 2015 shooting of Tarrie Wilder, 42. On Thursday, Circuit Judge Joseph Marx granted him a $100,000 bond with orders to stay on house arrest with a GPS monitor, stay away from weapons, and not have contact with the victim’s family.

While awarding bond, the judge denied a defense request to make it $50,000. Marx told Chavers he wanted to set the amount higher because Chavers could be more motivated to flee since there’s a “10-year sentence hanging over your head.”

Chavers said he shot his friend Wilder in self-defense, and was so distraught over it that he went to a strip club to get his “mind off of what happened.”

The victim’s mother, Pat Fedina, said she’s upset Chavers won’t be in prison while he challenges his conviction and sentence.

“This is ridiculous,” Fedina told reporters. “He left the scene, he went to a strip club, and he lied to police. It’s the system I’m disappointed with.”

Assistant State Attorney Jill Richstone argued against the bond, pointing to Chavers’ previous felony convictions in 1989 for burglary and grand theft, and in 1990 for grand theft, when he was a juvenile.

But defense attorney Alyssa Salman countered that the juvenile convictions can’t be used to deny him bond — Judge Marx said he agreed with her.

“Mr. Chavers has no adult [felony] convictions,” Salman said, adding her client is entitled to bond because he’s shown respect for the court system, has family ties to the community, and his appeal is “not frivolous.”

The prosecutor, however, countered that Chavers’ jury rejected the self-defense claim, making it unlikely Chavers will prevail in his appeal.

In court last month, Chavers spoke of his “sorrow and remorse” over the shooting he said “haunts” him every day.

Before the trial he was unsuccessful in a “stand your ground” claim that he had the right to shoot Chavers because he believed his life was in danger.

“It really hurts me because of the sadness of the unfortunate situation that I was forced into,” Chavers said. “I think constantly about what I could have done differently.”

Chavers has testified that he and Wilder got into a fight over $300 or $400 that Chavers said he was carrying in a pocket. Chavers said he fired his gun after Wilder grabbed it.

Circuit Judge Samantha Schosberg Feuer presided over the trial and pronounced the sentence. After a judicial rotation this week, Judge Marx took over the case and he reviewed its history.

Chavers