State Courts

Common Law: Is $5,000 bond enough?

By Ron Sylvester

John Taylor stood at the center of one of the most dramatic local legal stories in recent memory. He originally was sentenced to life in prison, after pleading guilty to strangling a 60-year-old mentally disabled man in 1996. The case was reversed on appeal, Taylor withdrew his plea and spent a dozen years in prison for robbery.

Within the first year of freedom, Taylor was back in the Sedgwick County Jail, charged with stealing. Judge David Kaufman considered Taylor’s history when asked to reduce his bond.

(Watch video after the jump)

Full post as published by What the Judge Ate for Breakfast on December 15, 2009 (boomark / email).