Billy James Lewis Jr. is accused of a violent crime.
Yet he was able to be away from home for 18 hours a day tiffany for work, shopping excursions, church services and medical appointments, according to the terms of his pretrial release.
The ankle bracelet he wore only recorded the truck driver leaving and returning to his Lauderdale Lakes home.
Some offenders under house arrest must check in with their probation officers.
Lewis didn’t have to.
“He wasn’t required to call in like others may be,” said Hugh Graf, a Broward Sheriff’s spokesman. “Typically when an offender is on electronic monitoring, they are not required to call in except in cases where they need to report a change in address, change in employment status, or a request to change a schedule.”
Lewis, who’s being held in the Broward County Jail, is considered a “person of interest” — not a suspect — in the shooting death of Dorthy McReynolds, 40, who police said he threatened in April 2004 as he robbed a Hollywood check-cashing store.
McReynolds, the manager of the store, was shot in the head Monday, the day that Lewis’ trial was to start.
Hollywood detectives plan to interview Lewis about McReynolds’ death, “sometime next week” once all the evidence is collected and the autopsy is completed, said police Capt. Tony Rode.
BSO deputies picked up Lewis at the state probation office Tuesday afternoon. They’re holding him on charges that he violated a term of his pretrial release by failing to report a change in employment.
Lewis, 30, spent about 11 months in jail awaiting trial, but was allowed to post a tiffany accessories $75,250 bond in March 2005, after numerous delays in the case.
CASE MUCH DELAYED
As Lewis went on with his life, his court date continued to be postponed — 14 times over three years.
Reasons for some of the delays, according to court documents:
The prosecutor was called to jury duty, the defense attorney had calendar conflicts, and Lewis was unable to attend a hearing.
Three years is too long to be awaiting trial, said Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, who isn’t involved in the Lewis case.
“It works against the prosecution and against the victims,” Finkelstein said. “As time tffany keys goes by, memories fade, witnesses disappear and sometimes so does evidence.”
In this case, Dorthy McReynolds, the key witness, is dead.
FEARED FOR LIFE
McReynolds’ husband, Kenny McReynolds, said his wife feared for her life following the robbery because Lewis threatened to kill her and told her he knew where she lived.
Lewis’ attorney, Randy Haas, said he doesn’t believe his client had anything to do with McReynolds’ death.
His client has followed all guidelines set during his pretrial release, Haas said.
“In the two years he’s been released from incarceration, he’s not given the court any reason to believe he’s a threat to society,” Haas said.
Dorthy McReynolds was eager to testify against Lewis.
He was arrested inside the building after an hourslong standoff with police.
Still, he later plead not guilty, telling police he was at the Specialty Care Clinic in Fort silver bangles Lauderdale at the time of the armed robbery, court records show.
Since his release, McReynolds constantly worried about her safety, her husband said.
She was afraid to be alone at home and work, didn’t like driving alone and had bad dreams, according to a May 2004 statement to the Broward State Attorney’s Office.
SHOT IN HEAD
Shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, her fears became a reality when she was shot to death in her bedroom by an intruder, dressed in black.
Lewis’ trial, which would be postponed for the 14th time, was set to begin less than an hour later. McReynolds was going to be in court later that day, her husband said.
Haas said Lewis was in court at his scheduled time of 9 a.m. Monday, as he has been each time before.
BSO documents obtained by The Miami Herald show Lewis left his Lauderdale Lakes home at 5:19 a.m. Monday and returned at 7:33 p.m.
“There was nothing about this past Monday that would cause anybody to believe that the trial was more likely to go on that day than any other day in the past,” Haas said Friday.