Judge declines to lower bond for defendant in shooting of church pastor

Kyle Odom’s attorney asked a judge Thursday to lower the bond for the man charged with shooting Pastor Tim Remington six times outside a Coeur d’Alene church.

The bond, set at $500,000, is excessive for the charge of aggravated battery, argued Kootenai County Deputy Public Defender Lisa Chesebro. It also is set just high enough to require the county jail staff to keep Odom in maximum security at the county jail, which isn’t necessary, Chesebro told 1st District Judge James Stow.

Lowering the bond even by $1 would ensure Odom remains in jail but afford flexibility in where the jail staff keep him, she said.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jed Whitaker asked Stow to leave the bond as is. Odom presents a substantial risk to public safety, Whitaker said, and he outlined how Odom allegedly fled the scene of the shooting, drove across state lines, boarded a commercial flight for Washington, D.C., and stayed in a room three blocks from the White House before he was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service.

“He’s lying,” Odom could be heard telling his lawyer.

Stow agreed to leave the bond at $500,000 and said it would not be appropriate for the court to alter that amount to affect the detention arrangement.

Odom originally was charged with attempted murder in the March 6 shooting outside The Altar Church, but that charge was dropped last week and replaced with one count of aggravated battery, which carries the same maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors also are charging Odom with using a deadly weapon in committing the felony, which could give him another 15 years behind bars if convicted.

His preliminary hearing, when prosecutors must show they have sufficient evidence of the crimes, had been scheduled for Friday, but Chesebro asked the court for another 30 days to prepare.

She said part of the reason she needs more time is so the defense can evaluate Odom’s competency to proceed in the case. Odom has a history of mental illness, and he mailed letters and electronic documents to his parents and media outlets saying he plotted to kill Remington because he believed the pastor was part of a vast alien conspiracy to enslave the human race.

The judge granted a delay of at least 30 days.