With a man out on bail yesterday and back on the block where he is alleged to have shot a 10-year-old boy, Mayor Martin O'Malley blasted the judge who released the suspect and said the city will start a new judicial watchdog program.

"It's appalling," O'Malley said of the situation, which has sent the suspect home to a neighborhood where he lives 12 houses away from the victim.

"The judge should have known - anyone should have known, without even going to law school - that person should not have been set free on a $35,000 bail."

His remarks, after 24 people were killed during a 25-day span in the city, set off a chain reaction of finger-pointing by the state's attorney's office, the judiciary and the police, who blamed one another yesterday for the release of 19-year-old Perry Spain.

Spain, accused in the July 15 shooting of Tevin Montrel Davis, was released Friday after a hearing at which police and prosecutors did not show up to argue for a higher bail.

District Court Judge George M. Lipman, who set the bail, was supported yesterday by the city's chief district court judge, who said Lipman acted appropriately given the information presented at the hearing.

"A judge makes a decision based on the evidence before him," said District Court Administrative Judge Keith E. Mathews.

"If you listen to the tape, the evidence before him led him to the decision he made. There was no police officer or assistant state's attorney there."

Tevin was hit in the neck by a stray bullet as he sat on his West Baltimore porch with his father.

'Slap in the face'

The child's mother, Antoinette Davis, said her son is afraid to stay in the neighborhood, and she called the bail hearing "a slap in the face."

"It gives the public mixed signals, basically," said Davis, 36. "One minute the commissioner and everybody is saying crime is down and people that do crimes are going to suffer. But then they let him out on bail. That's like saying, 'OK, you do a crime but we'll let you out till you go to court.'"

O'Malley was so incensed about the bail issue yesterday that he said he will form a citizens group to visit city courtrooms to monitor gun cases and report judges who do not follow state sentencing guidelines.

A review of the bail hearing at the district courthouse on Wabash Avenue shows that the judge got little help from prosecutors in assessing Spain's case.

Meanwhile, Spain's lawyer, Warren A. Brown, was present to extol his client's reputation.

"This young man is known as a kind, compassionate, giving individual," Brown told the judge. "He's not a danger to anyone in the neighborhood."

On the other side

In an apparent attempt to hear from the other side, Lipman asked: "Is there any state's attorney involved in this case at all here today?"

"No, sir," answered Roland Bevins, who was there on behalf of pretrial services. Pretrial officials such as Bevins are not prosecutors, but provide assistance to court officials.

Bevins requested that Spain be held without bail, but he had difficulty arguing his case to the judge.

Lipman asked him: "And you haven't had any information from the state or the police in addition to the statement of charges to convey to me?"

Bevins: "No additional information, Your Honor."

Lipman could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy held an afternoon news conference yesterday to defend the state's attorney's office, saying prosecutors failed to show up at Spain's bail hearing because they did not know about it.

Police did not report his arrest to her office as they should, based on protocol, she said.

"The Police Department failed and did not follow through there," Jessamy said.

Margaret T. Burns, spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office, called it "unfair" to blame her office for not showing up for the hearing.

"When the mayor is spouting off about this, he should check with his own police department," Burns said.

Burns also noted that Jessamy went to a meeting of criminal justice officials in May and recommended that all bail hearings involving offenders accused of violent crimes be scheduled at the city's central booking facility, rather than a courthouse.

Prosecutors have offices at the facility and could attend all such bail hearings, Burns said.

Col. Robert M. Stanton, commander of the city police criminal investigation division, said he doesn't know why officers didn't contact the state's attorney's office about the Spain case.

He said it is not common for police to show up at bail review hearings, calling it "the rare exception."

Stanton also said Spain's arrest was prominent in the news, meaning the state's attorney's office could have easily learned about the hearing.

"We could have and should have, and they could have and should have," Stanton said. "It's not unfair to say they should be cognizant of what goes on in the community."

At the bail hearing, Spain was instructed not to have contact with the victim or witnesses and told he must adhere to a 10 p.m. curfew.

Facing life sentence

Spain is charged with nine criminal counts in the incident, including attempted first-degree murder, which can carry a life sentence.

Brown, Spain's attorney, said his client "absolutely" denies the charges against him. He also said that based on prosecutors' lack of attendance at the bail hearing, the case does not appear to be an important one for the state.

"There was no prosecutor there," Brown said. "They were there for other cases, so what kind of message is that sending? They don't take that seriously."

Spain - called a former "friend" of Tevin who occasionally bought him sodas and candy bars - is charged with shooting the boy during a gunfight over a craps game.

The scene in the 1900 block of W. Fairmount Ave., where Tevin and Spain live not far from each other, was at times tense and awkward yesterday.

Tevin's family said they are afraid because Spain is back home, and Spain said he feels that many are unjustly accusing him.

"I keep seeing my face on the TV," said Spain, sitting in his family's rowhouse. "They make it out like I really did it. Why even let me out?

"I didn't even understand why they locked me up. I don't understand."

Goodwill gesture

Moments before, a woman identified as Spain's girlfriend walked up to Tevin on the street and gave him a hug.

She handed him four artificial roses wrapped in plastic, a small teddy bear wearing goggles and a bomber jacket, and a card that read, "I hope you get well soon." As Tevin held the bear, the woman jumped into her car and drove away.

But despite the goodwill gesture, Tevin's family still feels uneasy.

"He should still be behind bars," said Rodney Harden, 33, Tevin's father. "It [the bail] was too low for what he did. They shouldn't have made bail, period. Who says it won't happen again?"

Harden said Tevin became scared when he learned Spain had been released from jail. He said Tevin no longer goes outdoors by himself.

"When he found out he was released, he didn't want to come home," Harden said. "He already went through enough."

Tevin said Spain should not have been released from jail: "The same thing might happen again. It makes me mad. I feel that he's not my friend anymore."

Spain said he still cares about Tevin.

"That's my little man, that's my little man," Spain said. "I'd hate to see anything like that happen to him."

Opportunity to move

City officials, in response to a perceived danger of having an attempted-murder suspect in the same neighborhood as the victim, say they have offered to help the Davis family move.

The family has said they are considering moving out of the neighborhood.

Officials said they are concerned about the boy's safety and are prepared to give his family a rental assistance contract that will provide them with a subsidy to rent an apartment elsewhere in the city.

While Tevin said he has yet to see Spain since the night of the shooting, Harden said he has passed by Spain several times on the street.

They have not exchanged words.

"When I see him, I want to ask him why he did it, why he shot my son," Harden said outside his house yesterday afternoon. "I want him to explain why."

As Harden spoke, a car carrying Spain, his mother and another woman parked in front of Spain's house.

Spain walked inside immediately, and Spain's mother soon followed.

Tevin was inside his house and did not see Spain.

"That's my point," Harden said. "Suppose my son was sitting here with me and he sees him [Spain]. That's more trauma."

Sun staff writer Tom Pelton contributed to this article.

'Is there any state's attorney ... here today?'

The following is a partial transcript of a bail hearing for Perry Spain. District Judge George M. Lipman is presiding. Roland Bevins is representing Pretrial Release Services.

Lipman

"In reviewing the files, have you seen anything that connects any shells, forensics of any sort, guns, ballistics, anything along those lines - is there anything in the file that you have more than I have on the statement of probable cause that connects Mr. Spain with a gun - not whether he's a shooter or not, but with being around a gun at all? Do you know anything about that, Mr. Bevins? You follow my question?"

Bevins

"Nothing at all, your honor."

Lipman

"Nothing at all in your files?"

Bevins

"In the criminal statement of charges, it just indicates what is written there. The information that counsel [defense attorney Warren Brown] has imparted to the court is new to me. As indicated before, minimal statement of charges, it just states that the defendant was allegedly identified by witnesses as being the shooter."

Lipman

"Is there any state's attorney involved in this case at all here today? I mean, I don't know - is there anybody down there, Mr. Bevins?"

Bevins

"No, sir."

Lipman

"And you haven't had any information from the state or the police in addition to the statement of charges to convey to me?"

Bevins

"No additional information, your honor."