Appeals court rejects lawyer's bid for release

12/13/2002

An Oak Harbor attorney's request to be freed or have her bond lowered has been rejected by the Sixth District Court of Appeals.

In a decision issued late Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the court upheld bond of $50,000 for Elsebeth Baumgartner, who has been held in the Ottawa County jail since Nov. 14 on a felony charge of escape. Ms. Baumgartner, 47, who was convicted of making false statements against a public official in July, was accused of violating her probation in September and jailed.

When she did not return from a four-day furlough, an Ottawa County grand jury indicted her on the escape charge. She was arrested Oct. 11 in Texas and surrendered Nov. 13 in Lorain County, Ohio.

In a hearing Wednesday, Ms. Baumgartner said her bond was excessive and that the September warrant for her arrest was illegal. The appeals court refused to release her or reduce the bond "based on petitioner's history of flight risk due to her refusal to respect the authority of the Ottawa County courts in this matter."