U.S. District Court Judge Michael Shipp denied Turner bail, saying he found the North Bergen resident to be a danger to the community and had concerns about Turner living up to some of the extensive bail conditions that prosecutors and Turner's attorney had agreed to.
Turner's lawyer, Michael Orozco, was prepared to address some of those issues yesterday, but Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Judson Welle said he was no longer interested in finding a way to release Turner from jail.
Welle specifically referred to a nine-minute phone call Turner made from Essex County Jail on Friday that was recorded and posted on his Web site, Turner Radio Network. The call was a plea to his supporters to help raise money for his bail, but it also named three FBI agents who interviewed Turner.
Welle told Shipp the blog post put the agents at risk. He also noted that a pretrial report said Turner has mental health issues.
Orozco argued that Turner's Web site is monitored daily and the FBI did not arrest him until June 24, three weeks after the comments in question were posted on June 2. He said the FBI would not have waited that long if it believed Turner was a danger.
The lawyer said his client's comments "dance" close to the line of what is protected speech, but do not cross it.
Turner, who appeared in a yellow jumpsuit with his hands and feet shackled, is charged with threatening to assault or murder the three federal judges because they issued a ruling upholding a handgun ban.
Hal Turner will be estradited this thurday at 06:00 to chicago to face the charges.
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