LAFAYETTE, IN — Attempted murder defendant Nevaeh Bell spends her days isolated in a small Benton County Jail cell, talks to no one and has little to do but read books or play computer games on a tablet.
Bell’s attorney, Jay Thomas Hirschauer, wants the court to ease Bell’s restrictions to allow her to visit with her mother and sisters. The visits would be at the jail with a plexiglass between Bell and her visitor. The visits would be recorded, he told Special Judge Lisa Swaim during a hearing Wednesday in Cass County.
Bell is one of four defendants charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the Jan. 18 shooting of Tippecanoe Superior 2 Judge Steve Meyer and his wife, Kim, as well as a conspiracy to kill a state’s witness who was supposed to testify against Bell’s boyfriend, Thomas Moss.
The Meyers suffered minor wounds and recovered. The planned killing of the state’s witness failed when no one answered the door at her Pennsylvania home. The plot was a gang-related effort to derail Moss’ Jan. 20 trial on intimidation, domestic battery and gun charges, prosecutors allege.
Bell has been in solitary confinement at the Benton County Jail since her Feb. 2 arrest, and she is not allowed visits.
“We believe that to be a violation of both the federal and state constitution,” Hirschauer argued Wednesday. “It violates the 14th Amendment because it’s punishing her before she’s been convicted. The courts have held that the object of bail is not to affect punishment in the advance of a conviction.”
Tippecanoe County deputy prosecutor Cassidy Laux cited legal precedent that Bell’s incarceration conditions — as well as for her co-defendants, Raylen Ferguson, Thomas Moss and Blake Smith — are the rare exception allowed when sanctioned by the court. That exception notes that it is not punishment.
Hirschauer asked Bell to describe her living conditions since her Feb. 2 arrest.
“Like a closet with a small window that you can’t even see out of it,” Bell said describing her jail cell.
If jailers have time, she’s permitted one hour of time by herself in the recreation room where there are books. She’s allowed a tablet, too, if the guards have charged it, Bell said.
“You can read on it. If there’s money on it, you can watch movies or play games,” Bell said about the tablet.
She also said she’d read about 60 books since being locked up. Her mother orders the books online and has them delivered to the jail.
But Bell also noticed an app on the tablet that allowed her to call her mother one time. The app was not supposed to be activated on Bell’s tablet.
“One day it popped on there, so I thought it had got approved that I was able to have calls because why now was that app on there?” Bell testified.
She called her mother, who picked up the call.
“Can you hear me?” Bell says in a hushed voice. “I’m here.”
Her mother, who also briefly testified at Wednesday’s hearing, can be heard on the call saying she loves Bell so much, but Bell’s going to get in trouble if they continue with the call. Bell’s mother then says “I love you” and hangs up.
Swaim gave Hirschauer until June 19 to file written arguments about why Bell’s incarceration should be modified and why she should be allowed to have visits with her mother and sisters.
Laux has until June 23 to respond to Hirschauer’s brief.
Swaim said she will review the arguments and issue a ruling on or before July 10.
Hirschauer than asked that Bell’s trial be moved from July to November, which was granted.
Currently, Smith and Moss are both scheduled for trial in September, and Ferguson and Bell are scheduled for November.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Woman accused of trying to kill Lafayette judge wants visits with her mother
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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