Circuit court to decide next month
A Rappahannock County District Court judge set bail at $10,000 Tuesday for Kenneth Warren Allison, who was charged with malicious wounding after a fight that resulted in a stabbing at his Flint Hill residence on Fodderstack Road.
But the prosecution immediately appealed the decision to the circuit court, where a ruling was made Wednesday that will keep Allison in jail until Nov. 10 when a more in-depth bond hearing can take place and a final decision on his release will be made.
Allison, 71, of Flint Hill, was arrested Oct. 13 after turning himself in to the Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office.
Judge Jessica H. Foster set bail Tuesday after hearing defense testimony from Carla Childress, who said she was a witness to part of the altercation. Childress gave the following account — from the witness stand — of how the incident transpired:
On Oct. 10, Childress was passing through Rappahannock to drop off her car at a mechanic shop in Winchester. She said she reached out to Allison about stopping in to visit, as the two are friends. Allison offered that Shawn Hamrick, whom she called Allison’s stepson, could pick her up in Winchester and bring her to his house to wait on her car and catch up.
When Childress arrived at Allison’s apartment on Fodderstack Road, she was introduced to another friend, Ronnie Fuel, at the residence. A conversation started between her, Allison and Fuel around the kitchen table, then Hamrick came in from the garage and “was being somewhat disrespectful to Mr. Fuel,” joking with and teasing him. Allison told Hamrick to stop, then Hamrick asked Allison to step outside.
Childress continued talking to Fuel in the kitchen, then turned and was shocked to see the two men outside fighting. “All of a sudden I saw Shawn on top of Mr. Allison out of the door in the grass … and Shawn pounding Mr. Allison,” she testified.
She said that Allison “was simply trying to defend himself,” and she and Fuel separated the men, and she brought Allison inside. Once inside, she saw bruises and small cuts on Allison’s face. She went to the bathroom to get a cloth to wipe the wounds, and when she came back Hamrick had come back inside the residence and was “beating on him again.”
The two were separated again, and Childress locked all of the doors with her and Allison inside. No knife had been pulled at this point. Hamrick then came to the side door and tried to kick it down.
“The rage that I saw in Shawn’s face … it scared me, and I knew I could not be here any more,” she said. “This is going to be bad … I just needed to leave.” Childress then asked Fuel to take her home, and the two left.
When asked, Childress told Allison’s Attorney T. Brooke Howard II that she did not feel Allison was at any point the aggressor in the altercations she observed. Howard asked if she had seen Hamrick drinking, Childress said she didn’t see him take a drink, but did see him fill a small bottle with vodka and carry it out to the garage.
After Childress and Fuel left, Allison pulled a knife on Hamrick, stabbing him in the stomach and inflicting serious wounds to his head and face, according to a criminal complaint filed in the district court.
‘No other option but self-defense’
Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff cross-examined Childress, and asked if Hamrick was acting drunk or if she smelled alcohol on his breath. She said he was not acting drunk, and had not been drinking in the car while he drove her from Winchester 30 minutes prior.
Howard told the judge he had spoken with Hamrick, who had reached out to him, and Hamrick said he was “blacked out and doesn’t remember” the altercation. He said Hamrick could not be in court because of an appointment, but he advocated for Allison’s release on bond while the case is settled.
Goff argued that no one called the police or 9-1-1 to help Hamrick after he was wounded, and that Allison’s upstairs neighbor said she heard him on the phone telling someone to come “help clean up.”
“This residence is a stones-throw away from [Flint Hill fire and rescue],” Goff said. “Literally, you could hit it with a baseball from the front door of this residence.”
Goff added that he thinks the allegation that Hamrick was trying to break down the door was “absolutely a fabrication.” Howard refuted, and shared photos he took at the house that he said better depict the damage to the door than those presented by the prosecution.
“I can’t think of an act more overt than kicking a door down … after attacking someone twice,” Howard said. “A knife came out with the virtue of no other option but self-defense … I think there was a lot of drinking going on.”
“Anyone can look at the photos [of Hamrick], and there’s no question a wounding occurred,” Goff said. “Whether it was self-defense is up to a jury … the commonwealth asks for no bond.”
In addition to granting Allison bail, the judge placed him on house arrest, and barred him from contacting Hamrick or any witnesses. Goff said he immediately wished to appeal the decision to the circuit court.
Foster issued a 24-hour stay — temporary pause — of her decision until Wednesday’s Circuit Court hearing, in which an agreed motion was filed by the prosecution and defense to continue the temporary stop of his release on bond until a more robust bond hearing can take place on Nov. 10.
“I’ve done tens of thousands of bond hearings, I’ve never seen a bond stayed,” said Circuit Court Judge Robert Smith. “You learn something new every day.”
