Flight Risk

George Zimmerman, who has been in jail for more than three weeks because his bond was revoked, should again be freed on bail to await criminal proceedings on charges that he killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, according to a defense motion released Monday. Zimmerman, 28, is scheduled for a bail hearing on Friday. His first bail bond of $150,000 was revoked June 1 after prosecutors accused him and his wife of misleading the court about how much money they had raised via donations to a website they controlled.

NEW YORK -- Rajat Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs director a found guilty of insider-trading charges in October, will try to remain free while he appeals his conviction.  Gupta's bid to stay free beyond his Jan. 8 surrender date is scheduled to be heard Tuesday by the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. If Gupta begins serving his two-year sentence and his appeal were eventually successful, he could conceivably be freed or face a new trial after serving much of his sentence. In court papers, Gupta's lawyers laid out what they claimed were judicial errors in the case, and concluded: "Gupta was denied the opportunity to present the best evidence of his innocence. These errors pervaded the whole trial.

Suspended Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno — who is facing corruption charges — was jailed Friday, the latest high-profile Colombian official or former official to be imprisoned for alleged crimes. On trial for allegedly accepting bribes from contractors in return for public works contracts, Moreno, 51, was deemed by the presiding judge to be a flight risk and remanded to the capital's high-security La Picota prison. Moreno, the grandson of Colombian army general and strongman Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, was three years into his term when he was suspended in May by the inspector general to face the charges.

A Riverside man arrested on suspicion of plotting to join Al Qaeda with three other suspects was ordered Monday to be held without bail until trial. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym found that Arifeen Gojali, 21, was too much of a flight risk and danger to the community, based on the allegations by federal investigators. Gojali was led by federal marshals into U.S. District Court in Riverside on Monday, bound by handcuffs and leg irons and wearing a bright orange, jail-issued uniform.

Joya Williams, who was convicted of conspiring to steal trade secrets from Coca-Cola Co., was sent to jail because of concerns that she could be a flight risk. U.S. District Judge J. Owen Forrester told Williams that her behavior since her arrest in July has showed she "would do anything to avoid going to jail." Williams, 41, faces as many as 10 years in prison for conspiring to steal trade secrets from the Atlanta-based beverage giant and sell them to rival PepsiCo Inc.

A Las Vegas businessman accused of swindling two families out of more than $40 million was taken into custody Thursday after a federal judge in Los Angeles found that he was an "extreme flight risk" and no bail conditions could reasonably assure his appearance at trial. After hearings that spilled over two days, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson reversed a decision by a federal magistrate judge in Las Vegas that let Daniel Nicherie, 44, remain free on his own recognizance.

A federal judge has rejected a bail request by former Ram cornerback Darryl Henley, who is seeking a new trial on cocaine trafficking charges. Henley was convicted of drug charges in March and faces a minimum of 20 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor ruled Friday that Henley is a flight risk and should remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, where he has been held since his conviction.

Despite the concerns of prosecutors, two women described as parishioners posted a $100,000 bond Wednesday to free a Simi Valley priest jailed on charges of embezzling church money. Father David Piroli was released from Ventura County Jail after one of the women put up $10,000 in cash and the other offered her residence as collateral. "We're very concerned," Deputy Dist. Atty. Greg Totten said. "In our opinion he is a very high flight risk."

Orange County prosecutors asked a Superior Court judge Tuesday to increase bail for a Huntington Beach police officer accused of molestation, calling the officer a flight risk. Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy suggested that Officer Mark Trachman's bail be set at $250,000--an amount that is standard for murder suspects. Judge Andrew P.

A co-defendant in the drug trial of Los Angeles Rams cornerback Darryl Henley was denied a chance to make bail Wednesday when a federal judge ruled he was too much of a flight risk. Rafael (Ralph) Bustamante, charged in a federal indictment with supplying "multikilogram quantities of cocaine" to Henley, petitioned the court to be released on bail from the Metropolitan Detention Center until the trial starts in January.

U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. last week ordered the Obama administration to provide bail hearings for certain immigrants who have been detained in Southern California for more than six months to determine whether their continued detention is warranted. Hatter's decision is a welcome development that could help restore some much-needed fairness to the troubled detention system. We hope the administration accepts the court's ruling. Clearly the federal government has the authority to detain and deport immigrants who violate the law, but it also has a responsibility to ensure that those immigrants are not subject to excessive, prolonged incarceration; they deserve the opportunity to be considered for bail.

George Zimmerman, who has been in jail for more than three weeks because his bond was revoked, should again be freed on bail to await criminal proceedings on charges that he killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, according to a defense motion released Monday. Zimmerman, 28, is scheduled for a bail hearing on Friday. His first bail bond of $150,000 was revoked June 1 after prosecutors accused him and his wife of misleading the court about how much money they had raised via donations to a website they controlled.

A judge ruled Friday that the doctor convicted in Michael Jackson's death must remain behind bars while lawyers appeal his case. Dr. Conrad Murray had asked to be released from jail, where he is serving two years for manslaughter, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor denied the bail motion, saying the physician is a flight risk. "The bottom line is the defense does not have significant property or employment or family ties in the Los Angeles or California area," Pastor said of Murray, a native of the Caribbean who practiced medicine in Nevada and Texas.

Megaupload.com founder Kim Dotcom must remain in a New Zealand jail until a judge determines whether the alleged leader of a $175-million criminal conspiracy to pirate copyrighted material is eligible for bail. The German-born Dotcom, who legally changed his name from Schmitz, is scheduled to return to court Wednesday to learn whether the judge will set bail and allow him to return to his mansion, where police seized luxury cars, guns and art in a raid Friday. Dotcom and three other men appeared in court Monday in Albany, a suburb of Auckland, on U.S. criminal charges of copyright infringement and money laundering.

Suspended Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno — who is facing corruption charges — was jailed Friday, the latest high-profile Colombian official or former official to be imprisoned for alleged crimes. On trial for allegedly accepting bribes from contractors in return for public works contracts, Moreno, 51, was deemed by the presiding judge to be a flight risk and remanded to the capital's high-security La Picota prison. Moreno, the grandson of Colombian army general and strongman Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, was three years into his term when he was suspended in May by the inspector general to face the charges.

A Los Angeles city councilman is calling on federal authorities to investigate why a judge in Puerto Rico granted bail to a Los Angeles homicide suspect who is now on the run. Councilman Paul Krekorian, whose district includes theNorth Hollywood parking lot where 19-year-old Mike Yepremyan was gunned down, said Judge Gloria Maynard's decision to release the teenager's suspected killer is "so disgusting, so absolutely bizarre and inexplicable that...

A 56-year-old Danish American entrepreneur charged in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme was denied a reduction of his $3-million bail at a hearing Tuesday. Municipal Judge Gregg Marcus ruled that Flemming Larsen, owner of the now-closed Danish American Farms markets in North Hills and Simi Valley, was a flight risk because of his strong ties to his native Denmark, where he owns a ranch and large candy factory.

Sobbing before a federal judge, convicted socialite Danny Hernandez on Monday lost his bid to leave prison while he awaits sentencing for the disappearance of $8 million from a precious-metals firm. * A pre-sentence report, disclosed in court for the first time Monday, recommends that Hernandez receive a six- to eight-year prison term. He and his wife, Susie, who was also convicted in the case, are scheduled for sentencing Jan. 24.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the beleaguered head of the International Monetary Fund, on Monday was ordered held without bail on sexual-assault charges in New York. As the financial world expressed its continuing confidence in the IMF, the international lender's chief pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted a maid in a hotel near Times Square. Making his first court appearance since his arrest on Saturday, Strauss-Kahn was dressed in a black coat, his shirt collar rumpled.

A top Los Angeles County district attorney's official said prosecutors could have done a better job determining the bail of a suspected thief who, while out of custody, allegedly killed four people in a series of home invasion robberies. Asst. Dist. Atty. Jacquelyn Lacey described the case as a "prosecutor's nightmare" and said her office planned to encourage prosecutors to follow the court's recommended bail for defendants unless there is a good reason to allow them to stay free.