Theodore Edgecomb release bid denied after trial rescheduled
MILWAUKEE - A judge denied a bid by attorneys to have their client released from jail, after the homicide trial was postponed earlier this week because of positive COVID-19 cases among those involved, including the judge himself.
The bond hearing for Theodore Edgecomb Wednesday, Jan. 5 was set after the trial was pushed back Monday. The trial is now set to start on Jan. 18.
"It is, literally, the shortest adjournment I have ever granted, in my career, of a criminal case," said Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski during the hearing, held virtually. "That’s because it’s my intention to ensure that this case proceeds and proceeds forthwith in two weeks."
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Edgecomb, 32, has remained in custody on a $250,000 bond since he was brought back to Wisconsin after his arrest in Kentucky nearly six months after the fatal shooting near Holton and Brady in September 2020.
Defense attorneys sought Edgecomb’s release from the Milwaukee County jail, having him placed on house arrest and GPS monitoring, pending the start of the trial, as he would be at less of a risk of contracting COVID-19.
Theodore Edgecomb
Borowski ordered Edgecomb’s bail to stand, considering the defendant’s past failures to appear in other cases, failure to comply with monitoring and his arrest in this case in another state.
Investigators say there was an altercation between Edgecomb and Jason Cleereman, prior to the shooting. Cleereman, a Milwaukee immigration attorney, was the passenger in a car; Edgecomb was on his bike. Video shows Cleereman's vehicle following Edgecomb onto the Holton Street Bridge. The Milwaukee attorney hopped out, and Edgecomb shot and killed him.
Surveillance shows Jason Cleereman's vehicle pull alongside Theodore Edgecomb
During the hearing Wednesday morning, Borowski interrupted both of Edgecomb’s attorneys, B’Ivory LaMarr and Aneeq Ahmad, as they brought up evidence and lines of defense arguments that might be presented during trial. Borowski said he would not allow for the case to be litigated and sensationalized in front of members of the public and the media.
An in-person motions hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10. Jury selection is set to begin on Jan. 18.
"The defense asks, somewhat rhetorically, ‘Well, will this proceed in two weeks?’ The answer to that is I don’t know. I presume it will. I will do everything I can to make sure that it proceeds," Borowski said. "But, is it possible that something could happen? Yes. But I’m not going to speculate between now and the next two weeks that something might happen."
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