The lawyer representing Nicholas McGuffin, Shaun McCrea, canceled a hearing to request a reduction in the $2M bail. Charged with the murder of Leah Freeman in 2000, McGuffin was expected to request to be released on his own recognizance.
His lawyer cited she wasn’t ready for the hearing. So far, it doesn’t appear a new date has been set and I can’t help but wonder if there is some underlying reason for not making the request at this time. Considering the cost of the defense in a murder trial could easily exceed the 10% of the bail or $200,000 the family realized they would have a hard time posting bail and paying legal fees. If the costs are an issue, they may have weighed the odds of the judge accepting the request with the cost of the lawyer preparing it and decided to save the money for the bigger battle.
At any rate, this trial will be on everyone’s minds for the next year or so.
