Packet #801 - November 13, 2008
Judge Phillips Refuses to Lower Brian Holliman's Bond
Hearing reveals new details about case

LCADC Transport Officer Mary Huggins follows murder suspect
Brian Holliman into the Justice Court Building yesterday
morning.

At Brian Holliman's preliminary hearing yesterday on a charge of murdering his wife, Laura Lee Holliman, Justice Court Judge Peggy Phillips refused to lower his bail from the $1 million set by Judge Phillip Owen Robertson, who died last Sunday. After hearing evidence in the case against Brian Holliman, Judge Phillips also bound him over to the next grand jury on the murder charge.

The request to lower the bail was made by Holliman's attorney, Steve Farese of Ashland, at the 9:00 a.m. hearing in the Justice Court Building. Holliman, who has been in jail since last week, was transported from the jail to the Justice Court Building for the hearing.

Laura Lee Holliman was killed on October 25 and Brian Holliman was arrested for the murder on October 28 (his wife's death was initially ruled suicide). It was on October 30 that Judge Robertson set Brian Holliman's bond at $1 million at his initial appearance.


Laura Lee Holliman
After Judge Robertson set the $1 million bond Sheriff Butch Howard allowed Holliman to leave jail on a signature bond. Howard said later that Holliman's family would be good for the $1 million if Holliman did not show up for court appearances. After an outcry by Laura Lee Holliman's relatives, Howard revoked the signature bond and had Brian Holliman rearrested and held in lieu of the $1 million bond. Howard said later that he had not examined the facts of the case before letting Brian Holliman go free. He said that he had planned to go to the courthouse and check property records to make sure that the Holliman family had enough property to guarantee the bond. (The last Packet reported that Sheriff Howard said that justice court judges had never imposed a $1 million bond before, but Judge Phillips said after yesterday's hearing that there have been million-dollar bonds here in murder cases.)

Yesterday Judge Phillips said that Brian Holliman could either put up $1 million in cash or put up 10% of that amount ($100,000) and pledge property for the balance (she said later that this would require delivering deeds and legal documents) or be bonded out by a bail/bondsman. A bail/bondsman would require a $100,000 fee, which Holliman would not recover even if he appeared as ordered. If he were to put up $100,000 of his own money and pledge property for the balance he would get the $100,000 back if he showed up for court appearances; likewise, he would get the $1 million back if he appeared as ordered.

Holliman remained in jail at press time last night.


Defense attorney Steve Farese (right) talks to Brian
Holliman's parents, Doug & Sarah Holliman, after the
hearing. Private investigator Terry Cox is on the left.

The state was represented at yesterday's hearing by veteran Oktibbeha County Prosecutor Roy Carpenter. Farese was accompanied by his private investigator, Terry Cox of Booneville, and he also had a private stenographer making a record of the hearing.

The first part of yesterday's hearing involved the bond. Brian Holliman was not present at this part of the hearing. Farese said that Holliman's bond was initially set at $1 million and that “an appearance bond was executed by his father [Doug Holliman]... but the following day he was rearrested. We're asking the court to set conditions under which bond could be granted. One million dollars is excessive. I'm not aware of any $1 million bonds that have been ordered in this area. When he defendant was rearrested he was rearrested at his parents' home. They're life-long residents of the county and there's no accusation of flight risk. There's no accusation that he'd be a danger to other members of the community.” (But his late wife's relatives told the sheriff that they have such fears.)

Farese went on, “We're asking for a reasonable bond so the defendant will have the opportunity to make bond.” He said that “bond was granted and executed but for whatever reason he was rearrested—it appeared that the sheriff had second thoughts about allowing him to be released on an appearance bond by signature...”

Farese asked that the bond be reduced and that Holliman be allowed to pledge sureties and post 10% of the bond in cash.


LCSO Investigator Eli Perrigin (right) talks to Laura Lee
Holliman's friends and family members after the hearing.
Holliman's Grandmother Freda Stacy is in the middle.

Carpenter, the prosecutor, didn't oppose the request. He said that the $1 million bond “seems to be a large amount.” He added, “We had a murder in Oktibbeha County yesterday and bond was set at $250,000. I assume he's [Holliman] entitled to a 10% bond, if there are no prior convictions...” and the defendant has “stability.” He added that the Court might have “personal knowledge” of Holliman and his family. He said that in Oktibbeha County a bond of $250,000 to $500,000 would be normal in such a case. “The only time it would be $1 million is if there are risks.

Judge Phillips said that the bond was set by Judge Robertson and that she assumed that he had “probable cause” in setting it. “I'll let it remain at $1 million,” she said, adding that he could post “cash or sufficient surety.”

Farese asked that Holliman be brought to the chamber for the next part of the hearing, which concerned the evidence against him.

LCSO Investigator Eli Perrigin was the only witness at the hearing. He testified that he was dispatched to the Holliman house on October 25 on what was reported as a suicide call. He said that Deputies Steve Hatcher and Larry Swearingen were at the scene (both are Caledonia Marshals as well as deputies and the scene was just inside the city limits). He said that Laura Lee Holliman was on the floor of her bedroom in “a huge amount of blood... with a gunshot wound to the left side of her face.” He said that her arms were folded over a shotgun and then said that the gun had been “shoved between her arms.”

Perrigin said that different parts of the scene made him question the suicide explanation. He said that Brian Holliman was not there when he arrived, that he had gone to his parent's house, but that he later returned. Perrigin said, “He walked up to me and basically told me it was an accident,” that he had forgotten to move that gun. Perrigin testified that Holliman told hi that he kept the gun loaded under the bed with a shell in the chamber. Perrigin said that Holliman “said he was outside and heard a loud noise and came in and found her on the floor.” Perrigin said that Holliman signed a statement at the Sheriff's Office and then left.

Perrigin said that he took the body to Jackson for an autopsy and that as soon as Pathologist Lisa Funte (not Fontaine, as was reported earlier in the Packet) saw it she said that the death was a homicide. “She said that because of the pattern of the blast on her face there's no way possible that she could have done it to herself,” said Perrigin.


East Mississippi Community College, Golden Triangle campus, hosted its
5th Annual "Proud be an American" Day on Tuesday. This annual event
celebrates Veterans Day and honors the men and women who served and
are currently serving in the U.S. armed forces. The event was initiated
by Jean Gregg, who was then a student and SGA president, in the wake of
the 9/11 tragedy. Instead of a speaker, this year's celebration featured
a musical tribute and hymn to honor each branch of the armed forces, with
a veteran of each branch giviing the creed or motto. Each year a different
high school JROTC in the district is asked to present the colors. This year
West Point's ROTC presented presented them. A highlight of the event was
the presentation of an AROTC scholarship to Cadet James Kimbrell of
Columbus, EMCC's first “contracted cadet.” In the photo, 1st Lt. Dustin
Guadagno, a recruiting assistant, is shown presenting Cadet Kimbrell a
symbolic check for the total benefits he will earn during his time in
the AROTC program (including tuition, room and board, books and a
monthly stipend), a total of $70,078.00.

Perrigin said that when he returned he set up another interview with Brian Holliman and that Holliman “basically confessed to shooting his wife. Basically he said he took the gun from the corner and purposely stuck it to her upper body and it went off. He said he was basically trying to scare her when he heard her in the closet.”

(Perrigin repeated this last statement a short time later but was never asked to explain it.)

Purchase a copy of Packet #801 for more on this story!


Judge Philip Owen Robertson Dies at 63
Dist. 1 Justice Court Judge Philip Owen Robertson died in his sleep at his residence early Sunday morning at age 63 of heart failure. He had a history of heart problems.

Robertson had served as justice court judge for more than 20 years. He took Ed Prescott's place on the bench when Prescott became sheriff in 1976. Prior to that, from 1973 to 1977, Robertson served on the Columbus City Council, representing a new East Columbus ward. Robertson also served at different times with the Columbus Police Dept., the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office and the Mississippi Army National Guard. He also owned his own auction business, enjoyed hunting and fishing, collected arrowheads and made knives for friends using deer antlers and blades from old woodworking tools. He had a very large and wide circle of friends—at his visitation at Memorial Funeral Home Monday people waited in line for two hours to pay their respects to his survivors (see obituary in this Packet).

Robertson had suffered from heart problems for many years. In 1997 he almost died from a heart attack but was saved by the late Ward 1 Councilman Jackie Ball. The Packet reported at the time that Ball was putting gasoline in his Plymouth van at a convenience store on Gardner Blvd. when he heard a faint voice calling, “Jackie, Jackie.” Ball's first thought was that God was talking to him, but when he answered the spooky voice continued calling, “Jackie, Jackie.” It was Judge Robertson, who was slumped in his nearby vehicle. Ball finally followed the voice and found the judge and called 911 and Robertson was saved. The two were longtime friends and both laughed about the incident later.

Robertson had undergone several heart operations over the years and had recently been told by a cardiologist in Birmingham that an implanted stent was not working and that he needed open-heart surgery.

One of Robertson's pallbearers was Tony Burnside, a Laurel native who has lived in Mexico for 26 years on the banks of Lake Emilio Portes Gil (formerly Lake San Lorenzo). Robertson made his first fishing trip to the lake in 1990 and made 62 more trips over the years, usually taking Columbus friends on the 2,500-mile round trip (several of these trips were reported in the Packet). Once the entire Columbus Kiwanis Club went down.

Ron Williams went to Mexico with Robertson for the first time in 1999. He said this week that he and some others were planning to go again on Thursday but that Robertson declined, saying he wasn't up to it, but he was hoping to go again in January. When Robertson died Williams contacted Burnside in Mexico and Williams and Charlie Clark of Columbus arranged to meet Burnside and his son, Roberto, 16, on the Texas-Mexico border, 900 miles from Columbus. The Burnsides left their vehicle at the border and rode back with Williams and Clark, arriving in time for the funeral.

Justice Court Judge Peggy Phillips, who was elected to the bench in 1975 (when judges still were paid through fees), said that she and Judge Robertson worked together for 21 years and “never had a cross word.”

Phillips said, “We worked on cases where we might have been getting input from each other, and we talked about it and if there was any question we'd take a recess and look it up. He was very thorough and if he didn't know the facts or law he'd recess and do research. He was fair and firm, but when he'd made his mind up he wouldn't be swayed. He was a good man. He was my friend—he was almost like a brother to me. We're going to miss him.”

Funeral services were Tuesday at Memorial Funeral Home with burial in Friendship Cemetery.


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