US baseballer Tim William Cusick released on bail despite DPP lawyer’s fear he will leave Australia, even without a passport
A US baseballer has been granted bail on carjacking charges — despite a prosecutor’s fears he will somehow be smuggled out of Australia without his passport.
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A US baseballer has been granted bail on carjacking charges — despite a prosecutor’s fears he will somehow be smuggled out of Australia without his passport.
On Friday, prosecutor Domenic Petraccaro SC urged the Supreme Court to keep Tim William Cusick behind bars while police investigate his alleged offending.
He conceded that, in the week since Cusick’s arrest, “discrepancies” had arisen within allegations he violently carjacked a stranger after drinking and taking drugs.
However, Mr Petraccaro insisted neither those issues, nor the arrival of Cusick’s parents in Adelaide, nor the surrendering of his passport mattered.
He suggested it would not be difficult for a person “with means” to leave Australia even without identity documents — an assertion that Justice Martin Hinton declined to accept.
“I mean no disrespect, but how does someone ‘with means’ get someone out of a country without a passport?” he asked.
Mr Petraccaro replied: “I did not say without a passport — he has siblings, a sibling’s passport could be used, or he could apply for a passport from another jurisdiction.
“Surrendering a passport does not render someone unable to get out of a jurisdiction if they really want to get out of a jurisdiction.”
Cusick, 28, of San Francisco, has yet to plead to charges of aggravated robbery and driving at a speed or in a manner dangerous to the public.
It is alleged that, on March 20, he punched, kicked and shoved a motorist out of their moving car on North Tce and drove off, crashing it at Hilton.
Upon his arrest, Cusick allegedly told police he had drank whiskey, taken LSD and believed people were chasing him, prompting him to head for Adelaide Airport and a flight home.
He was refused bail by the Adelaide Magistrates Court despite the ongoing support of the Henley and Grange Baseball Club, which brought him to Adelaide on a three-month visa.
On Friday, counsel for Cusick said their client’s parents had flown to SA to support him, that he would live with a baseball club member and give a $10,000 cash surety.
Justice Hinton said bail was warranted, despite the seriousness of the allegations.
“It’s not unknown in the law that what appears to be ‘clean-cut’ or ‘open and shut’ turns out to be far from ‘clean cut’ or ‘open and shut’,” he said.
Cusick will face court again in June — his parents declined to comment outside court.
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