Bail

A judge Tuesday reduced the bail for the son of former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and three other co-defendants in the alleged murder of a San Diego college student to $1 million each. Brad Patton, lawyer for Esteban Nunez, said the family will be able to meet the bail requirements. Nunez, 19, was expected to be released from jail in San Diego by late Tuesday night. Judge David Szumowski reduced the bail over the protest of Deputy Dist. Atty. Jill DiCarlo, who said it should remain at the $2 million set last week when Nunez and the three co-defendants were arraigned.

A federal magistrate ordered Irvine securities lawyer Jeanne M. Rowzee held without bond Wednesday after prosecutors contended she was a flight risk. Rowzee, who is charged with wire fraud in an alleged $20-million investment scam, will remain in the Santa Ana city jail, which houses some pretrial defendants in federal cases. Her attorney, Craig Wilke, a federal public defender, had asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Nakazato to postpone Rowzee's initial appearance in U.S.

A Michigan judge sent Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick to jail Thursday after learning that the controversial official violated the conditions of his bond in a perjury case by going to Canada for a business meeting without clearing the trip with the court. Kilpatrick apologized to 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles for the unauthorized trip he made to nearby Windsor, Canada, and said, "I ran in, I made a presentation . . . and I ran back."

A Santa Barbara County judge Tuesday set bail at $100,000 for an 84-year-old Carpinteria man accused of attempting to kill his ailing wife and himself with auto exhaust. Superior Court Judge George Eskin reversed a no-bail hold that has kept James Wheeler in custody since Sept. 17, when a neighbor foiled his alleged murder-suicide plan. Although prosecutors said the elderly man posed a risk to himself, his wife and the neighborhood, Eskin said the case called for "compassion and understanding."

Six police officers and one former officer charged in a shooting on a city bridge after Hurricane Katrina were permitted to post bail Friday, and the six still on the force may return to limited duty. The former officer, now a truck driver in Texas, may also return to work under the ruling of New Orleans Criminal District Court Judge Raymond Bigelow. "This is exactly what we had hoped for," said Michael Glasser, president of the Police Assn. of New Orleans.

GREECE Greek authorities ordered Marion True, former antiquities curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, to post about $19,000 bail, two sources familiar with the case confirmed. True's appearance Wednesday before a Greek magistrate and prosecutors, first reported by the New York Times, was the latest step toward a criminal trial on charges that the former curator conspired to buy an ancient golden funerary wreath that Greek authorities say was illegally excavated.

Blair Boutte, the co-owner of AAAA Bail Bonds, said he used to feel comfortable putting up thousands of dollars to get accused criminals out of jail because he always knew how to find them. In this highly parochial city, all it typically took was a stroll through their old neighborhood -- and a trip to Momma's house. "We were bonding these guys out because Momma had been living in the Lower 9th Ward or Lakeview or Gentilly for 25 years," Boutte said.

Two Santa Ana bail bondsmen pleaded guilty Friday to steering jail inmates to a prominent and well-connected criminal defense lawyer -- a practice known as attorney capping. The bail agents, owners of Xtreme Bail Bonds, admitted acting as runners for Joseph G. Cavallo, the defense attorney for the son of Orange County's former assistant sheriff in a gang rape case. Jorge Andres Castro, 31, of Aliso Viejo, and Alejandro de Jesus Cruz, 34, now of Miami, pleaded guilty to two felony counts.

A police officer's wife accused of having sex with two of her son's teenage friends has been released from jail after posting bond. Anna J. Walker-Vogt, 35, of Grayson posted $65,000 bail Thursday after a Stanislaus County Superior Court judge reduced her bail from $250,000. Walker-Vogt pleaded not guilty last week to felony counts of child molestation, unlawful sex and 12 counts of child endangerment. She is accused of giving beer to a group of teens at her home Jan.

A court commissioner reduced bail Thursday for the former director of UCLA's willed-body program, who is accused of illegally trafficking in body parts donated for research. A hearing is set for Monday to determine whether Henry G. Reid, 57, can come up with $500,000 from legitimate sources to secure his release. Reid was arrested March 7 along with Ernest Nelson, 47. Prosecutors allege that Reid sold body parts to Nelson, who then resold them to medical research companies.