Judge sets higher bail for Arkansas man in slaying case

A capital-murder suspect had his bail reinstated Wednesday on the condition that he submit to electronic monitoring and weekly drug tests if he's released from jail.

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Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson raised the bail for Robert Chandler Harris at $95,000 after the 20-year-old Jacksonville man spent 11 days in jail.

Johnson ordered Harris arrested on Sept. 13 at the request of prosecutors who said he had violated the conditions of his pretrial release when sheriff's deputies found an ounce of marijuana, a misdemeanor amount, in his pants pocket after Harris wrecked his car in an early morning crash near College Station on Sept. 10.

Harris was hospitalized after the crash, so he wasn't arrested at the time. Deputies took him into custody on the judge's order on Sept. 16 at the Military Road home he shares with his mother, Ebony Harris, court records show. He remained jailed Wednesday night.

Harris is scheduled to stand trial in November on accusations that he fatally shot Michael Cook, a 28-year-old father of two, in July 2014, shortly after Harris turned 18.

Arrested the day after Cook was killed, Harris spent five months in jail until the judge reduced his bail to $125,000, and Harris was able to post bond in December 2014.

He was free until last April when the judge jailed him after prosecutors complained that Harris had tried to discourage their chief witness from going to court.

The judge set Harris' bail at $75,000, and Harris was jailed for about four months before he could post bond in July. He had been free on bond for almost two months when he wrecked his car earlier this month.

Metro on 09/29/2016

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