Sometimes criminal charges aren’t what they seem. Sometimes cops exaggerate. That’s what a defendant and her victim told a judge today in an attempt to allow the defendant, a convicted felon who recently completed a prison sentence, to post a reasonable bail and bond out of jail.
They were successful.
On paper, the charges against 29-year-old Shantana Grayson looked catastrophic: robbery, burglary with assault, which is punishable by life in prison, and three second-degree felony counts of child neglect causing great harm, each punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Grayson was booked at the Flagler County jail on June 15, where she’s been since, on no bond. She sat in court this morning alongside other defendants as she awaited a bond hearing, with two competing bond motions before Circuit Judge Howard Maltz.
According to her arrest report, she’d broken into the house of her boyfriend of three years, stole his cell phone out of his hands, left for 20 minutes, returned and started attacking him, biting him on his bicep, pulling paintings off the wall, throwing a TV to the ground, breaking a bedroom window, all the while with her three children in her car. The incident took place at a Pine Hurst Lane duplex in Palm Coast the evening of June 10.
Based on the gravity of the charges, Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark wanted to deny Grayson the right to pre-trial release on any bond. Grayson’s defense attorney, Camille Martin, wanted a reasonable bond. Grayson had just witnessed a two-hour hearing in another case, also involving charges punishable by life, where the judge didn’t blink before denying a defendant bond.
But Grayson’s attorney had a surprise for the judge. She called her only witness: 34-year-old Rashad Wallace. The victim in the case.
“What is your position on whether Miss Grayson should be released on bond?” Martin asked Wallace.
“I definitely feel like she definitely should be released,” he said. “The incident was just an argument that basically started because of me. I take full responsibility for that. It was a heated argument, but the statements, the 707 was definitely exaggerated.” The charging affidavit is referred to as a 707.
She asked him if he was in fear of Grayson. No. If he had been in fear the evening when it occurred. No. On whether he wanted to pursue charges. No.
“The very next morning I went down to the sheriff’s office and did a do not prosecute form. I don’t know if they submitted it or not. I don’t want to prosecute or pursue the charges,” Wallace said.
“Do you wish to have contact with Ms. Grayson?”
“Yes, I do,” he said. “She’s a great person. It was just an argument that got out of hand, especially as far as the kids. The kids was not even involved, so I felt like the charges was exaggerated.” He said he’d left his door open for his own kids to play. Grayson had walked through the door. “She has always been, like, you know, passionate. It was just an argument that I enticed, so I get it. She never burglarized or stole anything at my house.”
In the arrest report, a deputy had asked him whether Grayson had ever used a weapon or threatened him with a weapon, whether she’d ever threatened to kill him, whether she’s capable of killing him, whether she’d ever choked him or attempted to do so. He had responded yes to every question.
Clark, the prosecutor, told the judge that she had gone on the basis of the arrest report to file her motion to deny bond–and on Grayson’s history.
Grayson is a convicted felon. She was sentenced to 18 months in state prison for burglary and felony battery a few years ago, completing her sentence in January 2025.
Clark asked Wallace a few questions that pointed to many inconsistencies between what he had told deputies, according to the arrest report, and what he was saying in court. Wallace said Grayson had been living with him since December. He contradicted the arrest report’s claim that she went into the house uninvited, and said he did not recall saying anything different to the deputies. He said her children–11, 8 and 6–were always welcome at his house. He did not deny the damage caused, attributing it to “the commotion.”
Grayson, an Emerald Lane resident in Palm Coast, testified to being employed and having money to cover bail. “I know that it’s a big thing, like since I’ve been released from prison, it’s big,” Grayson testified, “but since I’ve been released, I have obtained a job, I maintain my own residence, and I just do what I need to do for my children. So I mean I feel like I’ve been doing my part as a citizen in being a part of the community.”
Her mother and a friend had written character letters to the court on her behalf.
Clark told the judge she had not been aware of Wallace’s intention not to pursue charges. She had not spoken with him. That alone, Clark must have sensed, is likely to lead to the case being dropped: he is the sole witness. There is no case without him. It hardly made sense to keep a person in jail, away from her children and her employment, with such likelihoods. Clark, dispensing with her usually unforgiving arguments, told the judge she’d leave it to the discretion of the court.
Still, Maltz, who was sitting in for Judge Dawn Nichols, asked Clark what bond amount she would request if he were to grant the defense’s motion for bond. Clark said $10,000. Then Maltz turned to Martin, the defense attorney.
“On paper it seems a lot worse than what it really is,” Martin said. “And we’ve heard specifically from the victim today, who’s explained that this situation kind of really got blown out of proportion. I would argue, your honor, that there was a domestic issue going on, arguments and things like that. They’ve been together for quite some time, Judge. But again, the victim does not want to pursue. He is not in fear. He does want contact. Again, I will leave that to the discretion of the court, your honor. But we do feel that Ms. Grayson should be entitled to a bond, a reasonable bond, as Ms. Clark has stated, so that she can get out, maintain her employment, and provide for her children.”
Grayson was granted bond on six of the seve charges, totaling $51,500. The defense was asking for bond on the burglary with assault charge, which was a no-bond. The judge granted the request, setting it at $15,000. That means Grayson has a $66,500 bond, requiring a $6,650 cash bail if she is to make it out of the county jail. As of this evening she was still in jail.
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