Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon rejected arguments by Gristina's lawyer that the steep bail amount was not properly considered by the judge who originally set that bail amount, which has kept the mother of a 9-year-old boy locked up on Rikers Island since her arrest in late February.
Prosecutors had won the staggering bail by arguing before her first judge that Gristina ran a multi-million dollar escort ring out of an Upper East Side apartment with the help of unnamed law-enforcement officials.
But more than a month after her arrest, prosecutors have yet to come forward with details of any law-enforcement official actually being involved.
Solomon spent this morning reviewing prosecutors' written arguments for why the bail should remain at $2 million bond or $1 million as set by the first judge, Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the ongoing grand jury investigation into the case.
"I don't know what Judge Merchan considered [in setting the original bail], and I don't know what he said in considering bail," Solomon explained in asking for time to review the bail record.
In arguments later in the day, Gristina's lawyer Gary Greenwald told Solomon, "A seven-figure bail? That's not fair, that's not reasonable."
"I say to the court, that is irrational and excessive. And it's not just irrational, it's wrong," Greenwald said.
But Solomon countered Greenwald's argument by saying that his review of the record showed that Justice Merchan had given, in great detail, his reasons for setting that bail amount, after extensive arguments by both prosecutors and defense lawyers.
"The decision is not an abuse of his discretion," said Solomon in maintaining Merchan's bail figure.
No comments:
Post a Comment