SCOTT COUNTY, Minn. - Scott County Judge Jerome Abrams denied a request to allow Charles Anthony Maddox Jr. to leave the state of Minnesota to spend time with his family in Indiana during a brief motion hearing in Scott County Court Wednesday afternoon.
In November, Maddox was charged with second-degree murder in relation to the death of his estranged wife, Ruth Anne Maddox, who was a reporter for Southwest Newspapers.
Ruth Anne Maddox, 45, worked for the Times-Union from April 1, 1987, to July 8, 2003. During her tenure at the Times-Union, she covered general assignments, as well as police and courts under the bylines of Ruth Anne Lipka and Ruth Anne Long.
Maddox's defense attorney, Fred Bruno, requested that Maddox have extended time with his family in Indiana from Monday through Aug. 24. Bruno argued that Maddox has been compliant with his bail conditions since being released from jail May 8.
Prosecutor Neil Nelson argued that one of the conditions set when Maddox posted bail was that he was not to leave Minnesota, and if Maddox wanted to visit family in Indiana, he should be required to post the $2 million bail, which would not have conditions.Abrams denied Maddox's request to leave the state on the grounds that the duration of the trip was too substantial and that there is a flight risk associated with leaving the state, based on the potential sentence he faces if convicted of second-degree murder.
Abrams told Maddox that traveling outside Minnesota is "unlikely until the matter is resolved."
