A Miller County circuit judge Tuesday told a man accused of raping his former Sunday school teacher last year that given the circumstances, his existing $500,000 bail is low.
Members of Hayes' family testified they would provide him a place to live and pledged to notify authorities if he skipped town. Jones was not persuaded.
"The possibility of five life sentences is the greatest incentive not to appear the court can think of," Jones said.
Jones said his 28 years practicing law includes memories of defendants facing less punishment who were released on bond and remain at large to this day.
Mitchell argued that even if Hayes' family honors a promise to notify the court if the accused rapist disappears, there is no guarantee he will be found and brought to trial, arguing that such an arrangement is tantamount to "shutting the barn door after the cows get out."
Also of concern to Jones and Mitchell is Hayes' prior history of non-compliance with court orders. Before Hayes was charged in the current case, he was serving a term of felony probation for theft by receiving. For many months before his arrest last year, Hayes failed to report to his probation officer and his whereabouts were unknown.
"If he's not going to show up for probation, he's not going to show up for court when he's facing five life sentences," Mitchell said.
In fact, Hayes was being held in the Miller County jail on a motion to revoke probation when he was served Nov. 30 with warrants for two counts of rape, two counts of theft of property, single counts of kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated residential burglary.
Hayes is accused of forcing his way into a 33-year-old woman's home in the early morning hours Nov. 22, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account. The woman called investigators after seeing Hayes' picture in media accounts following his arrest and told them she had been Hayes' Sunday school teacher. The woman said Hayes had been absent from services at her church for several years.
Hayes allegedly took steps to conceal his identity from the woman he is accused of attacking. The woman described a man wearing a tightly drawn hoodie, sunglasses and black gloves as the person who pushed her back into her Dudley Street house, a gun pointed at her head, after she opened her door about 1 a.m. to let out her barking dog. The woman told investigators she was led to a bedroom where she was raped. The woman said her attacker continued to wear the sunglasses and hoodie, attempted to disguise his voice and demanded that she not look at his face.
The victim said she was forced to ride in her car as Hayes drove it to an ATM and ordered her to withdraw $500. At some point during the drive, the car struck a railing, damaging the windshield and hood. The woman told investigators she was released about 20 minutes later near the intersection of Fairview and College streets in the College Hill area of Texarkana, Ark., as her assailant drove away in her car.
Two days later investigators identified Hayes as a suspect based on tips from callers who recognized him from video surveillance images released to the media. The woman's car was found just after midnight Nov. 24 in the parking lot of the Links Apartments in Texarkana, Ark. Investigators noticed damage to the car consistent with the woman's account. The car appeared to have been buffed down and a box of Armor All wipes sat in the back seat.
In the glove compartment, police found an Airsoft pistol and a pair of sunglasses unfamiliar to the victim were recovered from the car's console. Investigators noted Hayes had once lived in a house not far from the woman's home.
If found guilty of the seven felonies pending against him in connection with the Sunday school teacher's violent assault, Hayes faces a maximum of five life sentences plus 16 years. He is scheduled for trial next month.