Inset: Gerald Foulds (Miami Police Department). Background: The residence where the defendant allegedly slashed his wife with a butter knife in Miami, Fla. (Google Maps).
A federal administrative law judge with the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals was arrested in Florida over the weekend after attacking his wife with a butter knife, Sunshine State authorities say.
Gerald Foulds, 79, stands accused of one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon causing bodily harm to an elderly person, Miami-Dade County court records show.
The incident occurred on Sunday morning at the couple”s house on SW 17th Street in Miami, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
Law enforcement arrived at the scene in response to a domestic violence call and quickly learned the victim was receiving medical treatment at a nearby urgent care facility, according to the charging document.
There, the police spoke with the wife.
“The victim stated that she has been married to the defendant for over 14 years and that they reside together,” the affidavit reads. “They do not have children in common. She advised that there have been prior physical altercations between them, but she never reported any incidents to law enforcement.”
The victim then described her husband as “impulsive, aggressive, and having a drinking problem,” according to the charging document.
“On today’s date, she and the defendant became involved in a verbal argument that escalated into a physical altercation,” the affidavit says.
Around 6 a.m. on the day in question, the victim woke up and “shortly thereafter” the argument began, the charging document alleges.
“In an attempt to avoid the confrontation, she went into the kitchen,” the affidavit goes on. “The defendant followed her, grabbed her by the left shoulder, where she attempted to defend herself by blocking him with her left arm. [T]he defendant then armed himself with a butter knife that was on the kitchen counter and cut her left arm.”
After the attack, the wife fled – first to a neighbor’s house where “her neighbor saw that she was bleeding from her arm and was visibly shaking in fear,” the charging document continues.
The neighbor then contacted the victim’s ex-husband, with whom she still has a good relationship, authorities say. The ex-husband was told, “The victim was bleeding from her arm.” So, he came over and escorted her to the urgent care facility. In a police interview, the ex-husband said he saw “dried blood” on her hands when he arrived.
The ex-husband also stopped at the victim’s residence to collect some of her belongings and came across the defendant, authorities say.
When the ex-husband asked Foulds what had happened, the defendant allegedly replied: “We have been fighting.”
Foulds was subsequently found by police, still at home, and arrested. During a custodial interview at the Miami Police Department, he was Mirandized and “denied the allegations.”
On Monday, the defendant appeared before 11th Judicial Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer to discuss bond and related matters, according to a courtroom report by Miami-based NBC affiliate WTVJ.
“You can’t let me go with my own recognizance since I’m a judge?” the defendant asked.
“What kind of judge are you?” Glazer inquired.
“I’m a Medicare administrative law judge for 21 years,” Foulds replied.
After a bit more discussion on the issue, the court decided against the request.
“So, I don’t know, I don’t think so, I’d probably set a bond based on what I read here, I think that the victim was stabbed with a knife, a butter knife,” Glazer said, reciting the allegations in the case.
In the end, Glazer set a $2,500 bond for Foulds that was quickly paid. He is no longer in pretrial detention. The next hearing in his case has yet to be scheduled, court records show.
A condition of his bond, however, prompted another notable back-and-forth.
“Listen, I’m a judge, I have to have someplace to live, so she sometimes lives there, but she can go over to her son’s house, where she often stays,” Foulds told Glazer at one point during the hearing.
The local judge was not having it.
“I can’t force her out of her house, the victim has a superior right over the owner of the home if they’re a victim of domestic violence,” Glazer explained, denying the defendant’s request.
