Circuit Judge John Putman this week filed a ruling denying post conviction relief motions filed by Richard Joseph Bauer.
On November 18, 2008, Bauer walked into the Gassville branch of First National Bank, said he was there to rob it, displayed what appeared to be the butt of a handgun in the waistband of his pants and tied up four employees with “zip-ties.”
In April 2009, a Baxter County Circuit Court Jury took about 15 minutes to find Richard Joseph Bauer (AKA Bower) guilty of charges stemming from the bank robbery and he was sentenced to life in prison.
VIDEO HEARING
On August 8, the now 84-year-old Bauer appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court by video hookup from the Cummins Unit of the state prison system in another attempt to obtain post conviction relief in the 14-year-old case.
Judge John Putman held a short hearing to give Bauer a chance to discuss the reasoning behind his latest request.
At the conclusion of the August hearing, Judge Putman said he would rule on the request as soon as possible. Bauer replied he was satisfied with that, “since the only way you can rule is in my favor.”
Judge Putman said Bauer would be provided with a written copy of the ruling.
ALARM BRING POLICE
The 2008 bank robbery attempt ended when a Gassville police officer responded to a silent alarm. When the officer entered the branch bank, the four employees fled to the rear of the building fearing there might be gunfire.
Bauer was spotted behind a teller’s counter and arrested without further incident.
It was found the pistol Bauer was carrying was a toy.
Bauer has spent a great deal of his time in prison trying to have his charges dismissed and his life sentence set aside.
BASICALLY SAME ARGUMENT
During the August hearing, Bauer basically presented the same case he has unsuccessfully taken in one form or another to a number of courts, including the Arkansas Supreme Court.
When Bauer was initially tried on the bank robbery and kidnapping charges, he represented himself and continued that practice during his appearance in August.
Bauer is described as a “self-proclaimed constitutionalist” who holds and acts on beliefs that are not always in compliance with the law.
In a lengthy, handwritten document filed July 18; Bauer contends his Arkansas charges should be dismissed because the statute under which he was convicted was “created by the state legislature.”
He claims because the state legislature has no judicial power, it cannot sentence “anyone to anything.”
In Judge Putman’s ruling, he writes that, despite Bauer’s claim, the legislature is defined as “the branch of government responsible for making or changing statutory laws.”
At one point as his initial case was making its way through circuit court, he demanded the charges against him be dropped since he had not been indicted by a grand jury as required by the Constitution.
As with many of his legal pronouncements, this one is wide of the mark. Charges can be brought “directly” in state courts by the prosecuting attorney.
He is alleged to have said he attempted to rob the bank in Gassville because the Internal Revenue Service had been stealing money from him for years and he wanted to get some of it back.
Bauer’s claim that the legislature cannot set the range of punishment for criminal charges was also found without merit.
Bauer also argued that his actions in tying up the bank staff “did not rise to a level” that would sustain the kidnapping charges brought against him.
Judge Putman said the Arkansas Supreme Court refused to hear this argument when Bauer’s case came before it. He wrote that the only way Bauer could question the sufficient of the evidence of kidnapping at that point is an allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel based on a failure to make a proper motion for a directed verdict at trial.
Bauer can’t make that argument since he represented himself.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
Bauer has also been convicted of bank robberies in Florida and Ohio.
The Florida robbery — that also included hostage taking — was in 1991 and the one in Ohio in 1985, according to court documents.
In his attempt to obtain post conviction relief in his Baxter County case, Bauer argues he should have been tried in federal court.
Bauer has reversed his argument in filings before other courts contending federal courts had no jurisdiction to deal with him.
He has claimed courts in the states where his crimes were committed are the only courts that could legally handle his cases.
Judge Putman said Bauer’s argument was “without merit.”
EVIDENCE OF A NOMADIC LIFE
When he was arrested in Baxter County, Bauer was carrying an Oregon driver’s license listing his place of residence as Junction City, Oregon, the vehicle he was driving had Arizona license plates, a Florida license plate was inside the vehicle and it was determined during the investigation that Bauer actually lived in Ormond Beach, Florida.
The spelling of Bauer’s last name on the Oregon driver’s license was Bower, but he signed recent documents using Bauer. His son also signed a letter to his father Bauer instead of Bower.
During the preliminaries leading up to Bauer’s trial on the Gassville bank robbery charges, he asked that his bond be lowered.
He was told several things were taken into consideration in weighing such a request – including where the defendant lives and if he has family or other ties to this area.
At that time, Bauer said he was from Panama. The judge denied the bond reduction request.
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