|
|
| Saturday, July 31, 2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
Marketplace
|
|
Sections
|
|
Service Center
|
|
 |
|
Lee back in Jackson County jail
Published June 3, 2006
Jackson County District Judge Ralph Grider set a new bond for John Christopher Lee Friday afternoon.
Grider set Lee's bond at $200,000 on each of two counts ($400,000 total) of attempted murder, declared that he is not an indigent as ruled Thursday and ordered him taken back into custody.
Lee's ex-wife, Lori Ann Lee, was charged with making a terrorist threat, a Class C Felony. She was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after being found in possession of an instrument consistent with using crack cocaine at the time of her arrest Friday. Grider set bond at $500,000 on the felony charge and $500 on the drug charge.
District Attorney Charlie Rhodes confirmed that his office asked Judge Grider to reconsider the bond issue on Lee based on comments Lee made when he was being transported from the Scottsboro City Jail to the Jackson County Courthouse Thursday morning for his initial court appearance in the Wednesday afternoon shooting of Robert Lee Hunter and his mother, Debra Parker.
As he was being loaded into a vehicle for transport Mr. Lee said, as reported in Friday's edition of The Daily Sentinel, "they put my grandkids in with a bad home — Judge Holt." Those comments were also recorded by a Huntsville television station and the tape of that exchange was entered as evidence before Judge Grider Friday.
Security was tight for Friday's hearing, which began shortly before 5 p.m. The courthouse was locked down with a sheriff's department officer guarding the downstairs. Three deputies, one with a metal detector, protected the main entrance to the second floor and five more deputies were stationed just outside the courtroom. Four uniformed deputies and six plainclothes officers were stationed in the courtroom. Six members of Lee's family were present during the proceedings.
Rhodes said that his office also requested a review of the court's declaring Mr. Lee a partial indigent because he (Lee) "had not been totally factual or truthful," during the initial hearing. Grider agreed and removed Ron Smith as Mr. Lee's court-appointed attorney.
Grider said he felt, based on the comments Mr. Lee made in front of the news media, that he "remains a threat to the victims." His order, among other things, stipulated that Mr. Lee not knowingly be within 300 yards of Hunter, Parker or Judge Jenifer Holt, her vehicle, premises or immediate family; that he have no contact with his grandkids; that he not knowingly be within 300 yards of the Jackson County Department of Human Resources; and that he not knowingly be within 300 yards of the courthouse, except as requested to report in a scheduled court setting.
The Wednesday shooting apparently resulted from a custody dispute over Hunter’s children, ages 4 and 18 months. Mr. Lee is the stepfather of Hunter’s ex-wife, Brandy Necole Cook. He was apparently upset over a decision made in Circuit Judge Jenifer Holt’s courtroom that allowed Hunter visitation rights.
Cook, who had apparently denied Hunter the opportunity to visit the children, was charged with contempt of court, ordered to spend five days in jai and fined $100. She was taken to jail to begin serving the sentence immediately after Wednesday’s court proceedings.
Lee is accused of shooting Hunter and Parker in front of a number of witnesses on the grounds of the Jackson County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon around 3:40 p.m. The children, who were with Hunter and Parker, were not injured. They remain in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources. Hunter and Parker remain in stable condition at Huntsville Hospital.
The charges were filed against Ms. Lee because of information police investigators uncovered information that indicated she had made threats toward a judge, according to Scottsboro Police Department Major Ralph Dawe. Rhodes said the charges had been brought against Ms. Lee because of a "threat against a sitting judge." He called it "one of the most serious things we can have in a case."
Ms. Lee, who said she had no place to live currently, was declared as an indigent by Judge Grider. He noted that he would appoint an attorney to represent her in the near future.
Judge Grider placed special conditions on Ms. Lee if she is able to make bond. They were similar with ones placed on Mr. Lee with the added condition that Ms. Lee not possess any alcoholic beverage or illegal substance if released.
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print |
Comment
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|