Pamela Ballin was booked into the DeKalb County jail Thursday morning — eight days after a judge let her go home despite being convicted of murder.
No bond was set.
A jury convicted Ballin on June 18 of bludgeoning her husband more than four years ago. But Superior Court Judge Mark Anthony Scott indicated he was concerned about the fairness of the trial and whether there was enough evidence to sustain the conviction.
He has scheduled a July 17 hearing on whether to let the verdict stand or declare a mistrial or enter his own verdict of acquittal.
DeKalb District Attorney Robert James challenged the legality of not immediately accepting the jury verdict and asked the court to order Ballin's arrest because in part she no longer had a secured $100,000 bond. The bonding company had withdrawn its commitment because the district attorney had taken so long to prosecute the case.
Wednesday, Scott reversed himself in part and ordered Ballin’s arrest until the July 17 hearing. In his order he put the blame on prosecutors who last year had consented to the bond withdrawal and never informed him about it.
He also noted that the 53-year-old woman had never missed a court date - unlike a key police witness whom the judge noted might be responsible for a mistrial.
“At no time did the state inform the court that Defendant Ballin’s bond was not secured by Hosea Williams bail bonding company,” Scott’s order said. “At no time did the state express any concern that Defendant Ballin’s bond was not secured by any surety.”
“The court did not intend to release Defendant Pamela Ballin into the community with no bond….It took the state nearly one week to address the issue of whether this court had the authority to release Defendant Pamela Ballin on her unsecured bond.”
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