The discussion about Stuart's status will continue Wednesday.
George Stuart, in a photo courtesy of CBS 3 SpringfieldSPRINGFIELD – Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni told a judge Friday George W. Stuart would be a threat to public safety if released into the community.
Stuart, the former Springfield police officer facing charges from an arson and standoff at his home in Ludlow, was in Hampden Superior Court Friday as prosecutors and Stuart’s lawyer discussed his immediate fate.
Judge Peter A. Velis ended up revoking Stuart’s bail, which had been set earlier this week at $250,000 cash by Velis.
Mastroianni said, “I am left with no other recourse but to ask the court to revoke the $250,000 bail.”
He said given Stuart’s mental health on July 18, the day of the standoff, which put the public at large at risk – he did not want to create another situation wher the public was at risk.
Velis said Friday although he had set the bail for Stuart – who had previously been held without the right to bail – he did it with the expectation the prosecution’s position might change if Stuart got out of Baystate Medical Center.
The reason the matter was back in court Friday was because Stuart was discharged from Baystate Medical Center Thursday and taken to the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow.
Stuart was in the courtroom for the first discussion. When Velis went off the bench and then came back on Stuart’s lawyer Thomas J. Rooke had waived his presence in the courtroom.
At that time a photographer from The Republican and Masslive.com was in the courtroom.
Rooke said the level of medical care at the jail is not sufficient for Stuart, and he is trying to find a hospital facility that will admit Stuart. Stuart would be on GPS monitoring, he said.
As of Friday morning he had not been successful. Rooke had reported he was trying to get Stuart admitted to Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer.
Rooke asked Velis to keep the bail at $250,000 and promised Stuart would stay at the jail until he found a hospital that would admit him.
Mastroianni told Velis he had confirmed Stuart had posted the $250,000 in cash for his bail so the jail would have no legal right to keep him.
Velis, saying he was concerned about Stuart’s health but also had to protect society, then revoked the bail, saying, “He’s not being penalized.”.
Stuart's case is due back in court before Velis on Wednesday; the judge asked Rooke to provide a full report on Stuart's physical and mentall condition.
Stuart was arraigned from his hospital bed where he was recovering from a self-inflicted gunshot following a 7 1/2-hour standoff with police in Ludlow.
Stuart, 71, faces charges of arson and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.
Mastroianni said he believes there will be a threat to public safety if Stuart is released from jail.
If Stuart remains at the jail he would be under 24 hour observation, the district attorney said, adding that if his medical deteriorated, he would immediately be taken to the emergency room at Baystate Medical Center as are all prisoners in the same situation.
Rooke said he did not think Baystate Medical Center would take Stuart back.
Rooke said he had “a heated dialogue” with a physician at the hospital when the hospital wanted to discharge Stuart.
When asked about Rooke’s representation of his and Stuart’s interaction with Baystate Medical Center, hospital spokesman Keith O’Connor said he had no information on the patient being asked about.
Jane Albert, director of public Affairs and community relations for Baystate Health, said – without referring to any patient – “no one is ever turned away for care.”
In what was meant to be his suicide note to his estranged wife, Stuart claimed he shredded nearly $1.5 million in cash, stocks and bonds and used it to start the fire that severely damaged their Ludlow home.
Documents filed in Palmer District Court show how the 71-year-old Stuart methodically planned for the end of his life in the weeks leading up to the hours-long standoff that ended when he shot a bullet into his stomach.
On July 17, the day before the standoff Stuart paid Sampson Funeral Home $12,500 for his funeral with the instructions that he have a simple casket, no calling hours and be buried in Island Pond Cemetery four days later on his estranged wife’s birthday.
After police and firefighters arrived at his burning home, Stuart could be seen walking back toward the woods.
Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet and other law enforcement personnel negotiated with Stuart for about seven hours in an effort to defuse the standoff.
Fitchet, in his report about the incident, said when Stuart looked at him and said “This is it, it’s over,” he grabbed the revolver while pushing it up toward the sky and away from Stuart.
Because Stuart would not release the weapon, Fitchet wrote that Stuart was able to discharge it while it was pointed in the air.
The discharge scorched Fitchet’s hand, and he lost control of the weapon.
After a brief struggle, Stuart fell to the ground with the weapon still in his hand, then placed the gun to his midsection and fired, Fitchet wrote.