LOS ANGELES (CN) — The fiancee of former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight was granted a slight reprieve Wednesday when a judge reduced her $2 million bail to $500,000 on charges of violating a court order by selling video evidence to TMZ.
Superior Court Judge Douglas Sortino reduced the bail after a lengthy hearing for Toi-Lin Kelly, in court in an orange jail jumpsuit. Describing the allegations as “troubling,” Sortino nevertheless said that a $2 million bond was more in line with bail for murder charges than for violating court orders.
“I can't in good conscience justify $2 million in this case,” Sortino said.
He reduced bail to $500,000 noting that this is still more than 10 times the $45,000 that is typically set for such charges.
Los Angeles County prosecutors accuse Kelly and Knight's business partner Mark Blankenship of brokering the sale of a video of Knight’s alleged hit-and-run at Tam’s Burgers stand in Compton on Jan. 29, 2015, to celebrity gossip site TMZ for $55,000.
Kelly, the mother of Knight’s 7-year-old son, says she is not guilty and that several lawyers gave her the OK to broker the sale.
Superior Court Judge Ricardo Ocampo had issued a protective order barring public release of the video after Knight was arrested and charged with murder after plowing into Terry Carter with his pickup and critically injuring Cle Denyale “Bone” Sloan at the burger stand in Compton.
Prosecutors say Kelly and Blankenship negotiated with TMZ for almost a month and knew that the evidence was subject to Ocampo’s protective order. They say the two started to negotiate the sale within two weeks of the incident.
Kelly wrote to TMZ in a Feb. 12, 2015, text message, “I can't wait to get this video to you,” according to the grand jury indictment. After what appears to be some haggling over the price, Kelly sent a March 5 email giving the go-ahead for a $55,000 sale.
On March 9 that year, TMZ posted the 2-minute video on its website.
The bail-review hearing began Tuesday morning at the criminal court in downtown Los Angeles. Kelly’s criminal defense attorney Dmitry Gorin challenged Kelly’s $2 million bail as arbitrary and excessive.
But Deputy District Attorney Stefan Mrakich warned that Kelly was a danger to the public, and said she had spoken to Knight from jail in violation of a court order restricting calls to his attorneys. She also was under investigation for witness tampering and there is a “strong suspicion” of ID theft relating to financial documents found during a search of her home, Mrakich said.
He told the judge Wednesday that he believed that Kelly’s goal was to get Knight acquitted of the murder charge.
“That in effect makes her an accessory to the crime,” Mrakich said, asking Sortino to reduce the bail to no less than $1 million.
Before ruling, Sortino heard from LA County sheriff's Sgt. Richard Biddle, the lead investigator in Knight’s murder case.
Biddle said that he searched Kelly’s home after obtaining a warrant, and seized $3,500 in cash from a bedroom closet and evidence of cashier’s checks for $25,000 and $35,000 from the TMZ production company, EMH Productions, made out to Kelly.