Boxer Jermain Taylor can leave his rehabilitation program once a week to attend church as long as he is accompanied by his counselor and does not socialize there, a Pulaski County circuit judge ruled on Monday.
But Taylor, 36, can't go to lunch off the premises of his treatment program when he attends Sunday church, and he can only be out then for three hours, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Judge Leon Johnson said at Taylor's sixth Circuit Court appearance since being arrested over accusations he shot his cousin and threatened another man.
He was released on bond but subsequently placed under court supervision after he was arrested again, five months later, when police say he threatened a Little Rock family of five by shooting off a gun at the city's annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade.
On his church trips, Taylor must be escorted by -- and can only sit with -- Muskie Harris, the former standout Razorback turned substance-abuse counselor, the judge said.
The judge also rejected a plea from Taylor's attorney, Christian Alexander, that the former boxing champion and Olympic medal-winner be allowed to visit his home weekly to attend to business matters.
Johnson previously rejected a similar request, saying he is confident that Harris' facility can provide space for Taylor to meet in private with his lawyers and business advisers.
In February, the judge said he would only let Taylor leave jail on condition he enroll in Recovery Centers of Arkansas' residential treatment program. He was released from jail and entered the program on March 3, court filings show.
Taylor was first arrested in August just after his cousin, 42-year-old Tyrone Dawayne Hinton, was shot outside Taylor's North Little Rock home. Authorities say Taylor also threatened the life of another man, 20-year-old Aharon Coley, during that episode.
He spent a night in the Pulaski County jail before being released on bond. He was subsequently charged with first-degree battery and first-degree terroristic threatening, with his trial set for June 23. His next court appearance is set for May 29. That hearing will be an opportunity for the judge to consider a defense motion that disputes the legality of his August arrest, the subsequent search of his home and any statements he made to investigators.
His next court appearance is set for May 29. That hearing will be an opportunity for the judge to consider a defense motion that disputes the legality of his August arrest, the subsequent search of his home and any statements he made to investigators.
According to arrest reports, Taylor told deputies that he and Hinton had "had problems ... in the past," and the cousins started arguing when Hinton went onto his property without an invitation. Taylor told deputies that's when he went inside, grabbed a gun and then went back out and started firing, reports said. He turned over a gun to officers.
Deputies were subsequently called to Taylor's home on Christmas Eve where the boxer and a woman exchanged accusations about Taylor throwing a brick at her. The woman said Taylor threw a brick through her car window, cutting her elbow, with Taylor stating he threw the brick because she was trying to run him over. No arrests were made.
Taylor's second arrest was in January after Little Rock police officers working at the parade reported hearing gunshots and followed them back to near Taylor's gym at the corner of Wright and Wolfe streets. There they found husband and wife, Thelton and Toya Smith, with their three children, who told officers that Taylor had just fired the gun at them.
The boxer was taken into custody after a brief chase that forced police to block his sport utility vehicle with a patrol car to stop him from driving farther, authorities said. Taylor reportedly surrendered a pistol he had in his pocket upon his arrest. Three of his six children and fiancee Skylar Harris of Sherwood were in the vehicle with him, police reports show.
Taylor spent another night in jail before bonding out again, but the judge, acting on a petition from prosecutors complaining Taylor had violated the terms of his bond, ordered him returned to custody, which led to his third arrest.
Taylor surrendered the day after his release after posting a series of Facebook videos online that drew public scrutiny and raised questions about his health.
His lawyers, in turn, persuaded the judge to release Taylor to a hospital for examination.
The psychiatrist who subsequently treated Taylor testified in February that he believed the boxer suffered brain damage that weakened his ability to control himself when he's using drugs or alcohol. The doctor also said Taylor could not name anyone involved in his life whom he could trust implicitly.
Taylor who suffered a severe head injury while boxing also underwent a brain scan conducted by state doctors but the judge subsequently ordered those findings sealed.
Taylor was returned to jail after the hospital stay, but the judge agreed in February to allow Taylor released from jail only to enroll in the residential treatment program. He entered the program on March 3, court records show.
Of the videos, which were posted to Taylor's Facebook page, one recording shows him changing a flat tire while on his way to jail, another shows him smoking a cigar and singing along to music while driving.
In the first video, apparently self-filmed in his bathtub, Taylor, shirtless and wearing a large gold chain necklace, apologizes to his supporters but also complains that no one was giving out candy at the Martin Luther King Jr. parade.
"I know you're disappointed in me. I'm sorry if I let anybody down or hurt anybody. I make mistakes too." he said. "The Martin Luther King parade -- little kids didn't even have no candy. Y'all need to get it together. I had my little girl out there. Nobody had no candy. I think y'all can do better with the parade.
So if you're disappointed in me, I'm disappointed in you too cause that's Martin Luther King. So get that together. Please do better with the Martin Luther King parade even if I don't be there to watch it. God forbid, but I haven't missed one yet. To my fans, love you, sorry."
Taylor then says he's going to return to jail but that he does not have a problem with illegal drugs.
"I'm not going to say I have no problems with no drugs to get out of jail. I'm not going to say I'm a drug addict. I work too hard for my life to put that in it," he said, closing by bobbing his right fist at the camera. "I love you, Arkansas! Champ, baby!"
He closes the 90-second recording by appearing to address allegations against him, but then seems to have second thoughts about what he's just said.
"That boy had no business f*** with us. That's OK, you ugly b***," he said. "Scratch that part."
In the second video, apparently self-filmed, Taylor is laying in bed with Harris, whom he introduces as his fiancee.
"Well, this is my new wife. I just asked her to marry me so we're engaged," he said on the one-minute clip. "Thank you God for sending me a woman, 22-year-old woman. Thank you, God."
Taylor's wife of 12 years, Erica Taylor, filed for divorce last March, reporting at the time that the couple had separated about a year earlier. Court records show the couple, who have four children together, have a final hearing in July.
Metro on 04/28/2015