LOS ANGELES : Judge Delays Decision on Bail for Evangelist Alamo

With a dozen supporters lining the back row of a courtroom, evangelist Tony Alamo appeared Monday in jail-issue blues for an initial hearing on federal tax charges and was ordered to return today for a ruling on whether he deserves to be freed on bail.

U. S. Magistrate Kirtland L. Mahlum said Monday from the bench that Alamo, arrested Friday on the tax evasion charges, apparently is not eligible for release because a judge in Tennessee had issued a no-bail warrant for the religious leader.

But Mahlum held off a final ruling until today, saying Monday that he simply wanted to double-check details of the warrant with court officials in Memphis, where Alamo was indicted last week on four criminal counts. The evangelist, arrested in San Fernando Superior Court while appearing on an unrelated felony child-abuse case, spent the weekend in jail.