ATLANTA — Newly obtained court records reveal a man a judge called a "danger to the community" was released on bond after Fulton County prosecutors missed a court deadline to keep him in jail.
According to an arrest affidavit, Damario Smith invited a "friend" to meet him at a College Park apartment complex to "smoke weed" together in December 2020.
When that friend arrived, Smith pointed a "semi automatic handgun at him and said 'give me the money,'" documents allege.
Smith fired once, according to an arrest affidavit, hitting the victim in the leg. He survived and was later able to pick Smith out of a photo lineup because he'd known the shooter "since middle school."
Records suggest the alleged shooter managed to escape the scene. A handwritten note on his warrant warned: "Use caution: poss. armed and dangerous."
Nearly a year after the shooting, on November 19, 2021, Smith was caught and booked into the Fulton County jail.
A superior court judge denied him bond, writing that he was a "danger to the community."
But on March 21, 2022, court filings show the judge reversed course and granted him bond.
According to Atlanta defense attorney Robert Rubin, who reviewed the case, the judge had no choice.
Georgia law says defendants can’t sit in jail without a bond longer than 90 days without an indictment. By the time of that March 21, 2022 bond order, Smith had been in custody--unindicted--without a bond for more than 120 days.
Fulton County prosecutors missed the deadline to indict, forcing the judge to grant bond.
"There is no excuse for not indicting it within 90 days," said Rubin. "That's what the law requires. It should be done. There should be systems in place to get all of the cases indicted in 90 days."
Days after getting bond, Fulton County Sheriff's Office records show Smith posted the required amount and was released from jail.
Months later, he vanished.
By December 2022, his ankle monitor was "dead," according to court documents. A related filing says Smith "failed to sufficiently charge" it.
Smith stopped showing up for his court hearings. Mailed alerts of upcoming hearings were stamped "return to sender."
A bench warrant was issued and his bond was revoked.
His case is now on a "judicial hold" because of Smith's "failure to appear," according to a May 4, 2023 court filing.
The case will "remain in kind of a dormant status until he's arrested," according to Rubin.
For the alleged victim and his family, Rubin says they now have to wait for authorities to track down a man they once had in their custody.
"You not only don't have any recourse, but you also are probably pretty fearful that this person who was charged with assaulting you or robbing you is out there somewhere and you don't know where," said Rubin.
11Alive repeatedly tried to talk with someone from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office about why Smith was not indicted in time.
Invitations to comment--in writing or in an on-camera interview--were sent via email, text message, phone call, and voicemail.
The DA's office never responded.
Efforts to reach Smith for comment were also unsuccessful.