A Eufaula man charged with assaulting his girlfriend and brother pled not guilty at his district court arraignment on Aug. 7. The preliminary hearing for Lemuel Ray Ballard, 39, ended on July 16, when Special Judge Brian McLaughlin ruled there was sufficient evidence to bind the defendant over for trial.
Ballard has been in jail since he was arrested and charged on Jan. 3 with domestic assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; kidnapping; assault and battery by strangulation; and unlawful possession of CDS (marijuana).
His bond was set at $750,000.
At the July preliminary hearing two of the witnesses were the suspect’s girlfriend, Sabrina Dunlap, and the arresting officer, Kevin Branscum, investigator with the district attorney’s office. On the night of the arrest, Branscum was sent to the suspect’s address where he said he found Ballard assaulting Dunlap and his brother Marion Windle Ballard.
At the Aug. 7 district court arraignment Associate District Judge Brendon Bridges ordered Ballard to stand trial early next year.
The discovery cutoff date is Jan. 31, 2025, and sounding will be at 9 a.m., Feb. 14, 2025.
