LOCAL : Judge Will Consider Lowering Keating’s Bail From $5 Million
The judge who ordered former Lincoln Savings & Loan executive Charles H. Keating Jr. jailed on $5-million bail agreed today to consider a lower bond while Keating awaits trial on fraud charges, and the prosecutor on the case said he would support cutting Keating’s bail to $1 million.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gary Klausner scheduled a hearing Thursday on defense requests for lower bail for Keating and his three co-defendants, all former thrift executives, who are being held on $1-million bail each.
Defense attorneys told Klausner that the quartet, who were jailed Tuesday after a 42-count state grand jury indictment against them was unsealed, should be released on their own recognizance. Keating, who made a fortune in Arizona real estate, has said he is broke.
William Hodgeman, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who is prosecuting the case, told Klausner that he would support cutting Keating’s bail to $1 million. He also said he would support bails of $50,000 for the other defendants.
“The bail may be too low; it may be too high,” Klausner said in granting the hearing. He said the bails had been set “to guarantee” the appearance of the defendants at future proceedings.
“This is not a punitive measure,” Klausner said.
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