Cobb County DA: Anna Benson 'a menace to society'

• Anna Benson in court for bond hearing Thursday
• Gun she carried was call %27The Judge%27
• Benson had jumped bail in an earlier case

MARIETTA, Ga. — The Cobb County Chief Assistant District Attorney described Anna Benson, the estranged wife former big-league pitcher Kris Benson, as a menace to society and said that she should stay behind bars.

During a bond hearing Thursday, Don Geary described how Anna Benson carried a weapon called "The Judge" Kris Benson's home on July 7. Geary described the gun that she waved at her estranged husband, saying it was not a weapon that wounds, but "a weapon that blows holes in things" with shotgun shells that fit into the handgun.

Anna Benson was trying to get out of jail on a $50,000 bond. She has been in jail 24 days and will stay at least a few more as Judge C. LaTain Kell decides whether to grant bond.

Geary said Benson, 37, has been indicted on five counts related to the invasion of Kris Benson's home in Marietta, located 25 miles north of Atlanta. She charged with criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, burglary in the first degree, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a weapon during commission of felony and could face more than 20 years in prison for demanding $30,000 from Benson that night.

Anna Benson appeared in handcuffs and a jail-issued blue jump suit . Her curly dark hair hung down over her shoulders and she wore thick-rimmed black glasses. She did not speak in court, and her only emotion was to shake her head and throw her shoulders back when Geary told Kell that Benson jumped bail in 1996 in a murder-related case.

Geary said Benson was under a bond in Tennessee when she fled. She was found in Portland, Ore. five months later. The case against her was eventually dismissed, said Rick Christian, her court appointed lawyer.

Christian asked for Benson to be released so she could undergo a thorough psychological exam out of state. Christian also said Benson needs to be free to appear at an August 22 alimony hearing or risk losing $400,000 to $1.2 million in joint marital funds.

Christian proposed that Benson could wear an ankle monitor and be banned from entering Cobb County where Kris Benson lives with former couple's three children and a fourth child from a previous marriage.