Conservative political blogger “Constitutional” Clayton Kelly will be released from jail on a bond of $75,000, the Clarion Ledger reported on Thursday.
Kelly is being released on Thursday.
The bond for Kelly, who has been at the center of an ongoing investigation in connection with the photographing of Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-MS) wife to use her image in an anti-Cochran video, was previously set at $200,000 but Kelly’s lawyer appealed the decision.
Kelly is one of four men who have been arrested in connection to taking Rose Cochran’s picture. He and the other three men are all supporters of Cochran’s primary challenger, state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-MS).
The primary is on June 3.
I actually agree with this. $200k was ridiculous. Bond is supposed to be to deter flight risks (no evidence of an issue here) and/or keep the community safe (a no-contact order will suffice here; no evidence of an intent to physically harm anyone in this case). Unless he has a prior record, $200k was way too high.
A high bond with a short jail stay has a very high return on cooperation. When the caged birds sings you might as well let them out.
That’s pretty unconstitutional. Imagine a prosecutor using that in their bail application: “Our case is circumstantial, but we need to keep the defendant in jail so he’ll cooperate/confess.” In any case, he wasn’t “let out”; his attorney successfully argued that the $200k bail was too high. Which means that the prosecutor didn’t “agree” to do anything.
Well, I would guess the prosecutor did not contest the bail reduction motion because of cooperation. If it was not appropriate why did the judge agree to it in the first place. I surmise the defendant had counsel at the initial bail hearing. Lady justice is blind and the overcharging and high bail are standard practices used on defendants with little or no income, leading to cooperation and plea deals.
The death of a mentally ill veteran in NYC jail over a $2,500 bail for trespassing is a good example. I am glad you still have faith but the studies are all over the place about prosecutorial misconduct/preferences in these areas, including jury selections. I am sure an esquire would know what is unconstitutional.
Probably was set that high in deference to Cochran. Teahadists notwithstanding, the man had to have made a few friends over his time bringing the bacon back home.