A judge told one of the two brutes accused of randomly pummeling an 82-year-old woman in the Bronx that she was “out of chances” because of her prior record — then proceeded to cut her loose, court records reveal.
Bronx Criminal Court Judge Craig Ortner told alleged attacker Tammie Moore, 32, that he was “concerned about the very serious nature of these charges” at her arraignment on Friday, according to transcripts of the hearing.
“They’re egregious. They’re only allegations, but they’re serious,” Ortner told Moore, a Bronx resident with a lengthy record who was arrested alongside alleged accomplice William Ballinger and charged with two counts of assault for the Aug. 2 beatdown.
“But you’re out of chances, ma’am,” Ortner continued, referencing Moore’s previous failure to show up for court dates. “You’re facing a bail-eligible charge. The People asked for bail. They were certainly within their rights to do that in your case.”
But even as he pilloried Moore from the bench, Ortner shockingly decided to let her go ahead of her next court date, the transcript shows.
“I’m going to release you under supervision,” he told Moore. “That means that after your arraignment, you are going to meet with a representative of Fortune Society. They are going to give you certain requirements that you must follow while this case is pending against you.”
It was a stroke of luck for Moore and Ballinger, also 32, who was also cut loose on supervised release following his own arraignment last week even though prosecutors asked the courts to hold them both on $30,000 cash bail or $90,000 bond.
Cops busted the pair — who have a combined 18 prior arrests — last week and charged them with second- and third-degree assault for punching the elderly home health aide several times in an unprovoked attack near East 212th Street and White Plains Road just after 7 p.m. that day, cops said.
It’s not clear what sparked the encounter between the two suspects and the 82-year-old victim, who prosecutors say was trading plastic bottles for cash at a machine at the time.
Moore allegedly shoved another woman into the 82-year-old, then argued with the victim before punching her in the face, Assistant District Attorney Casey McIntyre said during Ballinger’s arraignment.
Then Ballinger grabbed the victim, slammed her to the ground and held her there while Moore beat her with a shoe and pulled her hair, McIntyre added.
Both defense attorneys — Bronx public defender John Adelman for Moore, and Legal Aid Society attorney Leanne Fornelli-Pepitone for Ballinger — defended their clients by saying they were each raising four children and it’s not clear what actions they did or didn’t take that day.
“I don’t think it’s entirely clear who did what,”Adelamn told Ortner on behalf of Moore.
“I think it’s clear that Ms. Moore is a 32-year-old woman who has no criminal record whatsoever,” Adelman said, according to the transcript. “She does have the warrant that involves petit larceny cases, but that’s the only thing on her record at all. There is certainly nothing in any way that involves assault, violence or actions against another person.”
Meanwhile, Fornelli-Pepitone said Ballinger turned himself in — which “shows that he’s willing to show up to court and willing to face these charges” — and claimed her client was actually trying to break up a fight.
New York City Civil Court
“He was not trying to assault anyone,” Fornelli-Pepitone told Judge Eugene Bowen at Ballinger’s arraignment, before requesting her client be cut loose outright or, at the very least, on supervised release.
Bowen decided on the latter, adding that if Ballinger ignored the terms of release, he could be subject to “more serious conditions … including supervised release at a greater level, or bail could be set and you could be charged with bail jumping, a separate crime.”
This despite Ballinger’s previous robbery conviction — which in 2015 earned him a two-year stint in Queensboro Correctional Facility — and another failure-to-appear.
Both Moore and Ballinger are due back in court Oct. 9.
The victim’s family was outraged by the judges’ decisions.
“Why would they do that?” the victim’s daughter asked. “I think they should be kept in jail. Now that they’re loose, who knows what they’re going to do next.”
“They could do something else,” she continued. “They have handicapped my mom from going out. If she goes out now, who knows.”
— Additional reporting by Dorian Geiger
