This undated booking mug shot released by Warrensburg Police Department shows Ziyad Abid, a former University of Central Missouri student from Saudi Arabia accused of paying his roommate to kill a local bar owner. — AP
WARRENSBURG, Missouri — Ziyad Abid was a university student aspiring to become a pilot like his father back home in Saudi Arabia when he was accused of paying his roommate to kill a local bar owner. The judge set bond at $2 million, which was paid in full. Yet two months later, Abid remains jailed because a judge is refusing to let him out. The judge acknowledged he may be violating the Missouri Constitution, which allows suspects to be held without bond only in capital murder cases. But the judge won't budge. Or explain why. Abid's lawyers, including a former US attorney for Missouri, have asked a state appeals court to release Abid and remove Circuit Judge Michael Wagner from the case, arguing that he's biased in part by Abid's nationality. The court has given Wagner until Monday to respond. “There's no indication whatsoever this case has anything to do with any kind of subversive activity or terrorism,” said defense attorney John Osgood, the former federal prosecutor. “This is a plain, old simple murder of a bar owner done by a bouncer who was fired a week before. My client just happened to be his roommate.” Both men are charged with first-degree murder, but not capital murder, and armed criminal action. If convicted, they could face up to life in prison. David Mitchell, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, agreed that Wagner may have “an unconscious bias that might be acting out” about Abid's nationality. He said the judge likely fears Abid could flee ahead of his Aug. 20 trial, noting that the involvement of the Saudi government, a US ally, is especially unusual and has increased that speculation. “Imagine if this judge grants bail and this person flees. Think of the ramifications,” Mitchell said. David A. Martin, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law who specializes in immigration issues, said the judge's concerns weren't unfounded. “There have been instances of this kind in the past where someone who bonded out from a criminal proceeding moved quickly through the deportation proceeding and was deported before local law enforcement knew about it,” Martin said. “I know ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was working on better communication in that kind of setting, but these instances have occurred.” One of Abid's attorneys, Pat Peters, insisted the government rarely deports foreigners in such cases. Still, defense attorneys insist Abid isn't going anywhere, arguing that prosecutors' case won't hold up. In a recent court motion, they said Singletary gave investigators several stories — including saying a Kansas City gang put him up to the killing, then agreeing with interrogators that the mafia made him do it — before saying Abid was involved. “While there is overwhelming evidence that Singletary killed Whitworth, there is no corroborating or physical evidence suggesting Abid was involved: no DNA, no fingerprints, nothing. There is only the statement of confessed murderer Singletary,” the attorneys wrote. During a hearing April 5, Wagner told Peters the court would be satisfied if $2 million were deposited in its bank account. The money was wired that day, according to court documents. But a few days later, Wagner reversed himself. Peters confronted him, according to court transcripts, saying: “I just want to make sure I heard this court just say that despite the law, despite Judge Cook's order, despite the representations by the prosecutor and defense counsel, you have just said ‘no bond' in this case.” It's not unusual for the Saudi government to help its citizens who get into trouble in the US, but Wagner's response is far from the norm, said John Leger, an attorney for the Saudi government who handles legal matters for the Saudi consulate overseeing Missouri and 15 other US states. “I've been doing this over 40 years, and I've never seen this,” Leger said, estimating that about 47,000 Saudi students are in the US. “It's not whether (Abid) deserves it or does not, or if he's guilty or not guilty,” he said. “The rules say he's entitled to a bond.” — AP
