"Judge allowed to return home until trial
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A longtime Appalachian judge jailed since his arrest nearly two months ago in an alleged election-rigging scheme won an order Thursday to await his trial at home under strict conditions.
Russell Cletus Maricle was ordered confined to home and can only leave for medical treatment, meetings with his attorney and court appearances, under the order by U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves.
Maricle, who has been held in the Pulaski County jail, is scheduled to go before a federal magistrate judge in London, Ky., on Friday to go over terms of his release, said Maricle attorney David Hoskins.
Maricle has “held up well, all things considered” while in jail, Hoskins said by phone. “He’s been very focused on what we need to do to defend this case. I think his faith in the system has been strengthened.”
Federal prosecutors had argued that Maricle should remain jailed until his September trial.
Asked about Reeve’s order, spokesman Kyle Edelen of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky said it’s the office’s policy not to comment on pending litigation.
Maricle’s home incarceration will be monitored electronically and he can receive few visitors.
Other than medical-related issues, his use of phones and computers is restricted to contacting probation officials, clergy, his attorney and relatives.
Maricle was among eight people — including a school superintendent and county clerk — accused of trying to rig several elections in Clay County in southeastern Kentucky. Maricle, a circuit judge from 1991 to 2007, was described as a “political boss” by federal prosecutors.
Maricle, 65, lost an initial request to get out of jail when U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Wier ruled in late March that he had “no confidence” the defendant would abide by restrictions to safeguard the case.
Wier’s ruling said “no set of conditions will reasonably assure against the danger that defendant would, if released pending trial, obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice.”
At a hearing, federal officials claimed Maricle directed a cooperating witness on how to testify before the grand jury investigating the Clay County case. An FBI agent said audio recordings indicated Maricle encouraged the witness to mislead or withhold information from the grand jury.
Prosecutors also claimed Maricle tried to find out the home addresses of that FBI agent and two other investigators and what vehicles they drove. The FBI agent said investigators searching Maricle’s home found a Clay County precinct list that included the names of people alleged to have been involved in voter fraud.
Reeves said in his order that the chances Maricle might try to obstruct justice, intimidate witnesses or threaten law enforcement officers was “greatly reduced” with the restrictions attached to home incarceration.
He said the chance Maricle might try to flee was “reduced substantially” by the electronic monitoring.
As part of his order, Reeves said Maricle can receive a select few visitors at home — clergy, his attorney, probation officers, relatives and health care workers. Maricle must maintain a log of visitors.
Also, any incoming or outgoing calls involving Maricle must be logged. And Maricle can’t have contact with anyone that in any way involves his case except when with his attorney, Reeves said.
Hoskins said he expected strict conditions attached to the home incarceration.
“He’ll have no problem complying with them,” the attorney said.
A Sept. 14 trial is set for Maricle and other defendants in the case.
Hoskins expressed confidence of winning an acquittal for Maricle, saying, “Thus far, I’ve seen nothing from the government that’s very troublesome.”
Others charged in the case include Clay County schools Superintendent Douglas C. Adams and Clay County Clerk Freddy Thompson."
The TV show Cops explained the law in cases like this, "All persons are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law!" As a criminal defense lawyer, I agree. Cletus Maricle should be presumed innocent, released on his on recognizance, and sent home to await trial.
