COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A nonviolent past and lack of hard drug use were factors cited by a judge who lowered bond for a man accused of failing to tell authorities all he knew about a friend accused of massacring nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges lowered Joey Meek’s bond Thursday to $25,000, down from the $100,000 that was set after his arrest last month. Authorities say Meek lied and failed to report everything he knew about Dylann Roof’s plans to shoot parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
Hodges declined a request from Meek’s attorneys for a personal recognizance bond, which is a written promise to show up in court. She said she normally would approve that for these charges, but the circumstances dictated otherwise.
Hodges addresses the survivors and victims’ relatives who asked her not to reduce bond at all.
“I appreciate what you’re requesting. My sympathies are with you, your families and your church,” she said. “My responsibility is to make sure I don’t allow my sympathies to get in the way of my oath.”