Parker denies bail for man with violent criminal history
Other defendant sent to pen for threats against wife, kids
After being made aware of Edwin Fabricio Montiel’s criminal record, Circuit Court judge Jeffrey W. Parker on July 18 denied Montiel’s petition to be released from the Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren Regional Jail on bail.
On June 24, Montiel, 38, of Woodbridge, was arrested and charged with abduction, malicious wounding and unlawful use of, or injury to, telephone and telegraph lines stemming from an incident in which he assaulted his girlfriend.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Virginia State Trooper C. C. Burgoon, Montiel while in Rappahannock County struck the victim, dragged her through a gravel driveway, and prevented her from using her phone to call for help.
The victim was airlifted to a hospital, where she was treated for damage to her left eye and other injuries.
Before Parker’s ruling, Montiel’s attorney Peter Hansen called Terry Bennett to testify. Bennett, who owns an investment firm in Oakton, told the court he had known Montiel for 20 years and that he had not witnessed any violent behavior on Montiel’s part toward the victim.
“I’ve witnessed the whole relationship [between Montiel and the victim],” Bennett said. He also said that Montiel had family and financial ties to the community and could be trusted to appear in court for his trial if allowed out on bail.
In his examination of Bennett, Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff called the witness “unresponsive” after receiving several evasive answers to questions. Parker agreed to Goff’s request to strike Bennett’s testimony from the record.
Hansen called Montiel’s employer, James Ray, owner of Star International Movers in Sterling. Ray described Montiel as a “tremendous employee [who] helped us grow another segment of our business.”
Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Jim Jones testified as to the victim’s injuries — bruising on both sides of her face and “marks on both her head and neck”
Cfrom being dragged through gravel.
He said when he interviewed her in the hospital, she said she had a “constant ringing in her ears.”
During final arguments, Hansen told the court that Montiel has “sufficient ties to the community” and as a mortgage holder is “a person of property” who could post a substantial amount of money for his bond.
Goff, in his final arguments, described Montiel has having a “violent, assaultive nature” and a “violent
history.” Goff said that even though Montiel, if granted bond, would be residing with his mother in Woodbridge, he could still pose a threat to the victim here in the county.
“It’s not like proximity [an hour away from Montiel] will save this lady,” Goff said.
Hansen pleaded that there was no criminal history between Montiel and his girlfriend, but Parker pushed back.
“Her injuries appear serious,” Parker said, “And I am also concerned about his criminal history,” noting several instances of felony assault and battery and grand larceny and a 2016 charge of DWI.
Montiel “has quite a history of breaking the law,” Parker said before denying Montiel’s release on bond and remanding back to RSW. A hearing to appeal the protective order the victim placed on Montiel is scheduled for August 27.
In the same session Casey Andrew Soulsby, 42, of Crossville, Tenn., was sentenced for making repeated threats of death or bodily injury to his wife and five young children. Soulsby appeared in an orange and white striped jail uniform stamped with “RSW inmate” to hear Parker sentence him to three years in the penitentiary, with all but two years and five months suspended.
He must also undergo mental health treatment and have no contact with his wife. Of the four years of probation Parker ordered, two years will be supervised. He said he would let a separate tribunal determine whether Soulsby could have contact with his children.