After sitting in jail for a year and a half on a $450,000 bond, former Chattanooga firefighter Marvin Nicholson has a chance of going free before a second jury attempts to decide his guilt or innocence in the 2006 slaying of a 15-year-old boy.
The first jury could not reach a decision earlier this year, which resulted in a mistrial. Defense attorney Johnny Houston has been lobbying for a “makeable” bond for his client ever since.
Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman granted the request Monday, slashing the bond to $50,000 during a court session attended by Mr. Nicholson’s wife and several other family members. The family likely will end up paying $5,000, or 10 percent of the new bond amount, instead of $45,000 to secure his release.
Mr. Nicholson will stand trial again Sept. 2 on charges of first-degree murder, felony murder and especially aggravated kidnapping in the slaying of James Citizen.
“God is good,” said Mr. Nicholson’s wife, Takara Nicholson. She and other family members declined to comment further.
Judge Steelman initially set the defendant’s bond at $450,000, an amount Mr. Houston said last week was too high, especially since the first jury failed to reach a verdict.
Judge Steelman, Mr. Houston and Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox discussed the implications of the hung jury in the nearly hourlong hearing, with Mr. Houston arguing it proved his client has a good chance of winning the second time around.
“Quite frankly the state got in almost all the evidence they wanted to in this case. Despite all that, (Mr. Nicholson) was not convicted,” Mr. Houston said. “It could very well be that the next jury acquits the defendant.”
Mr. Cox, however, said the outcome “remains to be seen.”
“The argument could be made that since a majority of jurors wanted to convict, the bond should be increased,” Mr. Cox said.
But in light of the mistrial, Judge Steelman said that “the court is primarily looking now at whether the court can trust him to come back here.”
On condition of the reduced bond, Mr. Nicholson must live with his wife and must be home every evening by 7. He will not be allowed to drive and cannot leave Hamilton County.
James Citizen was killed Oct. 3, 2006.
According to trial testimony, he was kidnapped at gunpoint and shot while in the northern part of Hamilton County along Sims Harris Road.
Testifying on his behalf at trial, Mr. Nicholson’s relatives said he could not have killed the boy because he was with his sister at Erlanger hospital during the time eyewitnesses placed him at the kidnapping scene.
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In another case Monday, the prosecution and defense reached an agreement to lower the bonds of two former Hixson High School students accused of bringing a gun onto campus last month.
Derrick Leon Jones and Kenny Hall are being held at Hamilton County Jail on a $300,000 bond each. The agreement will lower the bond to $10,000. The grand jury has not heard evidence in the case.
WHAT’S NEXT
Marvin Nicholson will stand trial again Sept. 2 on charges of first-degree murder, felony murder and especially aggravated kidnapping in the slaying of James Citizen.
