The man accused of assaulting a University of Houston student at knifepoint is refusing to cooperate with his attorneys and has made it clear he does not wish to post bond, despite facing multiple serious charges.
Eric Latroy Brown’s bond has been set at $15 million, and his charges stem from an incident earlier this month, in which he allegedly sexually assaulted a student in a campus parking garage.
Brown appeared in court Friday, where his defense attorney, Wilvin J. Carter, provided some insight into his client’s behavior during proceedings.
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“He refused to sign his bond conditions that the court has set for him today,” Carter said. “Well, because he’s refused to sign the back of this? That means he has to sit in jail until he decides to sign them. Then he makes bond, but otherwise, he’s going to sit in jail until this case is resolved.”
The defense team also expressed concerns about the bond amount.
“We want to file a motion to reduce the bond amount,” Carter continued. “He has a right to have that amount reduced, especially knowing that he’s homeless. That bond is exceedingly high. Excessively high. So we want to at least make sure we protect his constitutional rights by at least trying to get that bond lowered to something that he possibly can make.”
Despite the efforts to lower the bond, Carter pointed out that Brown’s current state may prevent him from even attempting to make a bond.
“Based upon our conversations with Mr. Brown and based upon his comment today in court, I seriously doubt that he will even make an attempt to make bond,” Carter said.
Brown’s defense has been hindered by his refusal to cooperate. According to Carter, Brown has been unresponsive, “As it relates to his personal history, we don’t know anything about it. I just met him yesterday and he’s refused to communicate with myself or Tony Lakho, as well as attorney Moncrief. He gave some indication that he was going to communicate this morning, but once we got in court, he just ceased all communication again.”
Carter also expressed doubts about Brown’s willingness to post bond, saying, “Based upon our conversations with Mr. Brown and based upon his comment today in court, I seriously doubt that he will even make an attempt to make bond.”
Brown’s behavior has also raised concerns in jail.
“This is our understanding that yesterday he had an altercation with the correctional officers on why they were bringing him over. As a result of the altercation, his blood pressure was elevated, and so they kept him in isolation until they were able to bring his blood pressure back down. And hence, that’s why he was able to come over today. So he was much more cooperative today than he was yesterday,” Carter explained.
In terms of communication about the case, Brown has been clear in his refusal.
“He has said absolutely nothing about the case except that we don’t represent him. And this is a kangaroo court, and he does not want to make bond,” Carter added.
The case is set to return to court on May 8, 2025.