Correction: Deputy prosecuting attorney John Johnson — not Circuit Judge Leon Johnson — declined to comment for a story published Wednesday on the conditions of boxer Jermain Taylor’s bond for charges stemming from an August 2014 shooting. Also in Wednesday's story, Sig Sauer, a handgun manufacturer, was misspelled.
Boxing champion Jermain Taylor pleaded innocent Tuesday morning to drug and gun-related charges a day after he purportedly threatened a family of five at gunpoint near downtown Little Rock.
But hours after posting bond and being released from the Pulaski County jail, Taylor's bond in a separate case involving a firearm was revoked and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Taylor was arraigned Tuesday morning in District Court on five counts of aggravated assault, three counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, and one count of marijuana possession. Attorney S.L. Smith, one of several on the boxer's legal team, asked Judge Alice Lightle not to raise Taylor's initial bond amount of $27,000. Lightle said Taylor will be "treated like anybody else" in her court and set his bond at $50,000.
Taylor, 36, the International Boxing Federation middleweight champion, posted bond shortly after noon and was released from jail. He and his attorneys did not speak to reporters.
At 4:15 p.m., an order to revoke Taylor's bond in the shooting of his cousin last summer was filed in Circuit Judge Leon Johnson's court. Taylor had 24 hours to turn himself in to authorities. He had not done so late Tuesday.
A motion to revoke Taylor's bond, filed by deputy prosecuting attorney John Johnson, cites the boxer's latest arrest as evidence that he "willfully violated the terms of his release" and "information which would merit revocation."
Judge Johnson declined to elaborate on Taylor's bond conditions. The boxer was freed after being charged with first-degree battery and first-degree terroristic threatening in the August shooting . Judge Johnson subsequently allowed Taylor to travel to Florida to train for a championship bout against Sam Soliman in Mississippi. Taylor returned to Little Rock with his first title in seven years.
Whether Taylor can be freed again on bond is up to the court. After a hearing, Judge Johnson "may impose different or additional conditions of release upon the defendant or revoke his release," according to the Arkansas Judiciary Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Police arrested Taylor on Monday after responding to a shots-fired call about 2:15 p.m. in the area of M.L.K Drive and Wright Avenue. Thelton and Toya Smith told investigators that an intoxicated Taylor had threatened to kill them and their three children -- ages 5, 3 and 1 -- during a confrontation shortly after the city's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. Taylor attended the parade with his girlfriend and two of his children.
Smith said Taylor let her 5-year-old son hold his championship belt and the boxer became enraged when the boy dropped it. Taylor purportedly pressed a gun to her husband's head, threatened to kill him and his family, and fired three shots in the air. Smith said one of the shots grazed her husband's ear.
Taylor's girlfriend, Skylar Harris, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, "He just snapped."
Officers recovered a Sig Hauer .380-caliber handgun and a bag of marijuana that Taylor had in his pocket, according to a police incident report.
Taylor posted a profanity-laced video on Facebook shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday in which he acknowledges his arrest warrant and apologized to his fans. The video shows him in a bathtub wearing nothing but a gold chain around his neck.
"I know y'all are disappointed in me. I'm sorry if I let anybody down or hurt anybody, you know. I make mistakes, too," he said.
Taylor went on to criticize the lack of candy for children at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, saying its organizers need to "get it together." He said he'll go to jail if he has to, but will not say he's a "drug addict" to get out.
The video ends with Taylor saying he loves Arkansas and "that boy" had no business messing with him.
The video was taken down shortly after it was posted.
Taylor appears to have been in legal possession of the handgun Monday. Information on the state's concealed carry license holders hasn't been public since February 2013, but records obtained by the Democrat-Gazette show that Taylor has a license to carry that will expire April 21.
Taylor retained his concealed carry license after purportedly shooting his 41-year-old cousin, Tyrone DaWayne Hinton, and threatening another man during a dispute at his North Little Rock home in August.
The Pulaski County sheriff's office, which responded to the shooting, had the ability under Arkansas law to seize Taylor's concealed carry license pending the outcome of his criminal case. Sheriff's office spokesman Capt. Carl Minden said they did not seize the license because the shooting occurred on Taylor's property.
Arkansas State Police control the issuance and revocation of concealed carry licenses, but local authorities may seize them "depending on the circumstances of the alleged violation," state police spokesman Bill Sadler said. State police automatically revoke a concealed carry license if its holder is convicted of a crime involving a firearm, or pleads no contest.
Taylor pleaded innocent in his cousin's shooting. A jury trial was scheduled for June 23-24 with a pre-trial hearing May 29.
Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen said he didn't know if the department seized Taylor's concealed carry license after his arrest Monday.
"I don't know if our guys have taken on that process yet," he said.
Allen said that although Thelton Smith said he was grazed by one of Taylor's gunshots, investigators didn't believe they had enough evidence for a first-degree battery charge. That decision was "based on the information that the detectives got from the victim and the witnesses, and checking [Smith] out for injuries," he said.
Although state law prohibits concealed handguns at any place where a parade or demonstration requiring a permit is being held, the statute applies only to participants in such events. The law prohibits carrying a handgun in places where alcohol is sold, but Arkansas is not among the states that restrict carrying a concealed handgun while under the influence of alcohol.
Additionally, the state's law against simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms does not cover misdemeanor drug offenses such as possession of marijuana.
Taylor complained of rib pain after his arrest Monday and was taken to UAMS Medical Center for treatment. Minden said that Taylor received no further medical attention during his roughly 18 hours behind bars this week. Taylor was separated from the jail's general population, Minden said.
Pat Burns, Taylor's trainer, told the Democrat-Gazette that the boxer's first title defense since regaining the IBF belt was cancelled Friday after Taylor suffered a fractured rib while training in Little Rock.
Taylor had been scheduled to fight Sergia Mora on Feb. 6. Burns said Taylor will need six weeks to recover.
Arkansas Online staff writer Gavin Lesnick contributed to this report.
Sports on 01/21/2015