Brandon Robert Harvey

BY MIRANDA STOKES

Staff Writer

Brandon Robert Harvey, 25, of 6326 Lee Creek Road, Belleville, W.Va., made his first appearance in Wetzel County Circuit Court on Docket Day, Sept. 14, for both his arraignment and a motion to set bail in his kidnapping case.

Appearing alongside retained counsel George Cosenza, Harvey entered a plea of innocence to his indictments of kidnapping and two counts of domestic battery. Regarding the motion to set bail, Judge Mark A. Karl moved to take the matter under advisement. Harvey was remanded to the Northern Regional Jail and will return Oct. 3 at 1:30 p.m. Furthermore, Cosenza requested a back-up trial date be set at this time. The judge earmarked Dec. 12 at 9 a.m. as Harvey’s trial date, set as case number two.

Regarding the proposed setting of bail, Wetzel County Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Haught stated he had concerns on the matter due to the nature of the alleged offenses.

He went on to share with the court that the defendant had been in a relationship with the victim.

Though the relationship had broken off, according to testimony there were periods of time where Harvey harassed the victim. Furthermore Haught said the victim had applied for a restraining order in Monongalia County and had on one occasion received 57 calls from Harvey in one day.

According to testimony from the preliminary hearing in Magistrate Court, Harvey forced the victim into his car, took her to Wood County, and threatened to sexually assault and kill her.

“My concern is predominantly the safety of the victim and the mental stability of Harvey,” Haught stated. “Therefore I’m opposing bond in this particular case.” Haught went on to say that should the court grant bond to Harvey, that a stipulation be made for the defendant to be monitored on home confinement and have no contact with the victim.

Defense Attorney Cosenza retorted there were issues on both sides of the relationship, citing the victim attempted to contact his client on many occasions after she filed the restraining order. Notably, he stated Harvey denies the charges and the victim’s testimony. Cosenza added his client is insulin-dependent and that such dependence was an issue with being in jail. Additionally, Cosenza said Harvey had no issue with home confinement as a condition of his bond, if granted. “We understand the seriousness of the charges, but we believe an appropriate bond should be set,” Cosenza resolved.

Before coming to his decision, the judge asked if Harvey had any prior offenses. Cosenza stated in the affirmative, sharing with the court that some misdemeanor traffic offenses including DUI were on Harvey’s record, in addition to pending charges of domestic battery and destruction in Wood County in relation to the incident at hand.

According to the true bills handed down by Grand Jurors during their September 2011 grand jury session, count one details that between Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 in Wetzel County, Harvey allegedly committed the felony offense of kidnapping in that he unlawfully, intentionally, knowingly, and feloniously and by force, threat, duress, fraud, or enticement, took, confined, or enticed away a female without her consent, for the purpose of receiving and demanding a concession or advantage of any sort from the said victim.

Counts two and three of the indictment state that between the same dates as above, Harvey allegedly committed the misdemeanor offense of domestic battery in that he willfully, unlawfully, knowingly, intentionally, and feloniously made physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with the same female, his ex-girlfriend, by shoving her to the ground and striking her with his hands in New Martinsville.