A judge refused to allow a man accused of manslaughter and homicide to be released to the custody of his sister Monday.
But the public defender for David Valentine Evenson, who originally was charged with murder in the death of Aaron G. Monette, hasn’t given up on his attempts to lower bail, currently set at $500,000.
On Tuesday, Evenson was back in Juneau Superior Court and his attorney, Eric Hedland, told Judge Philip Pallenberg that his bail should be set at the amount mandated for manslaughter, not murder. A Juneau grand jury declined to indict Evenson on second-degree murder in connection with the June 30 incident in which Evenson, 51, allegedly punched and kicked Monette, 56, who later died at a Seattle hospital.
Surveillance videos reportedly showed Evenson rushing Monette and punching him in the side of the head, and then kicking him. A pathologist in Seattle conducted an autopsy on Monette and reportedly made a preliminary finding that the pre-existing aneurysm that ruptured in the assault was a contributing factor to his death.
Pallenberg agreed that there was possible merit to the argument that since Evenson was no longer charged with murder, his bail should be revised downward. But he sided with Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige on there being a procedural issue with lack of notice to the victim’s family, and set a bail review hearing for Aug. 17.
Suspected heroin smuggler denied Michigan trip
A Juneau Superior Court judge denied a request by a man suspected of smuggling heroin and hydrocodone to wrap up his affairs in his home state of Michigan.
Harold Maurice Greenlee, 48, has been charged with two counts of second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and a cash performance bond previously was set at $15,000.
On Wednesday, Greenlee’s public defender requested permission for him to visit Michigan, telling Judge Louis Menendez he had no issues while out on bail for two years during an earlier Juneau conviction, for bringing hydrocodone and cocaine into town through the mail.
ADA Paige, however, argued he was hardly a model citizen and was accused of bringing thousands of dollars’ worth of controlled substances into Juneau.
“If he did not want to stay in Alaska, he should have confined his drug dealing to the state of Michigan,” she said, adding that aggravating factors could increase his potential sentence to 10 years.
Greenlee was stopped after he arrived in Juneau on a flight from Seattle July 3; searchers reportedly found 50 grams of suspected black tar heroin inside hair gel containers, as well as 341 hydrocodone pills, in his bag.
Menendez repeatedly referred to the “large amount” of heroin reportedly brought in by Greenlee, and its effect on the community, in denying Greenlee’s request. His trial is set for Sept. 25 and he will next be in court on Monday.
• Contact reporter Liz Kellar at 523-2246 or at liz.kellar@juneauempire.com.
