(photo courtesy of The Kumachan)
Michael Clinton Moffatt, charged at the beginning of the month with attempted murder, has been trying since then to get a judge to set bail, but until Tuesday had no luck.
Following a hearing before Mobile County Circuit Judge Charles Graddick, a bail of $250,000 was ordered for the 15-year Air Force veteran stationed in Biloxi.
This article was written for
http://www.al.com/
By GARY McELROY
Staff Reporter’, ‘According to prosecutors, Moffatt, 35, shot his estranged wife, Toiya Moffatt, 30, at his mother”s Mobile home on Cotton Street on April 1, then fled.
Michael Moffatt, a tech sergeant, surrendered the next day to his commanding officer at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi.
Assistant District Attorney John Furman told Graddick on Tuesday that the victim remained in a hospital, her condition still critical following a number of surgeries to address the shotgun blast she suffered.
Outside court, Furman characterized her chances of surviving as “nip and tuck” and “50-50.”
Following his client’s arrest, Mobile attorney Jeff Deen went before two district judges seeking bail; each time he was turned down.
On Tuesday, he argued before Graddick that Moffatt’s rights under the eighth amendment to the Constitution and Alabama law required a bail be set.
According to Deen, Toiya Moffatt lived in Florida after the couple separated.
Deen said he could not explain why a lower court was reluctant to set bail.
Furman said Toiya Moffatt was under a protective court order at the time of the shooting. He said his office was “still greatly concerned” for her safety.