Rantz: Seattle Judge Johanna Bender again releases violent suspect on low bail

King County Superior Court Judge Johanna Bender is facing criticism — again — for releasing a dangerous suspect, this time one that is charged in a hit-and-run that killed a 60-year-old man in Renton. She offered low enough bail to virtually ensure the suspect would post it and allowed the suspect to be released without an electronic alcohol monitor.

Police say that 19-year-old Urias Morales Perez was driving home from a birthday party when he was caught on dashcam footage striking Tim Gerhmez walking in a crosswalk in September 2024. The victim was propelled onto the car’s windshield. When police tracked Morales Perez down, they said he was heavily intoxicated.

“He didn’t even tap on the brakes after hitting my son. He kept going and went home,” the victim’s mother, Phillis, told Fox 13.

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Judge Johanna Bender keeps going easy on dangerous suspects

The teen, who had a previous hit-and-run charge on his recorded, according to Fox 13, was charged with vehicular homicide and hit-and-run. Despite the seriousness of the charges, like so many other dangerous criminal suspects, he hit the judge lottery. His case was assigned to Judge Johanna Bender.

Prosecutors asked for $100,000 bail and the victim’s sister implored the judge to uphold the high bail because ” he remains a danger to the community and should stay in jail so he doesn’t kill anyone else until his sentencing.”

But Judge Bender seems to rarely meet a dangerous criminal suspect who she won’t help out. She reduced the bail to just $10,000, which meant all he had to do was post a $1,000 to be released. He did just that.

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Shocker: the suspect got a second favorable ruling

A month later, prosecutors asked Judge Bender that Morales Perez be remanded to jail. Fox 13 reports that King County had a backlog and couldn’t set up the suspect’s electronic alcohol monitoring system. But again, Judge Bender sided with the suspect, saying she would trust him not to drink, saying it wasn’t his fault that the county couldn’t do its job.

“So, I’m going to allow your client to remain in the community and a significant exercise of trust on my part. I’m going to believe that he is going to continue engaging in the good law-abiding behavior that he has been engaging in,” Judge Bender said.

Renton Police Chief Jon Schuldt was as floored as the victim’s family. He reached out to Judge Bender to call out her claim that Morales Perez engaged in “good law-abiding behavior.”

“Let’s not forget he killed a member of our community while operating a motor vehicle impaired. So, I can explain it to my community, can you please help me understand the logic of allowing Mr. Perez to be free pending trial. I feel as though his behavior has been minimized at the expense of public safety,” the letter, obtained by Fox 13, said.

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Double shocker: the suspect skipped a court appearance

Morales Perez skipped out on a court appearance, something that seemed inevitable to anyone with two brain cells. Perhaps it’s why Judge Bender didn’t see this coming.

Of course, Judge Bender has a long history of releasing dangerous criminals, some of whom — shockingly — take advantage of the leniency. As Fox 13 points out, Judge Bender released a second-degree rape suspect to electronic home monitoring. But Jose Lopez cut that off and is still on the loose. Judge Bender also released a suspect named Joumari Wilson. He also cut off his tracker and was on the loose for over a year. He was only recently caught and charged with new gun crimes.

Tim Gerchmez’s family wants to know why Judge Bender is “on the suspect’s side, rather than the victim?” The answer is simple: like so many other King County judges, Bender is a dangerous ideologue who, by default, sympathizes with the suspect. What’s terrifying is that she’s now assigned to hearing child welfare cases in juvenile courts, which ensures more horrific decisions that put people’s lives on the line.

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