New Orleans Sportscaster Charged in Wife's Death
"Not a Flight Risk"
Speaking in his own defense before Judge Benge, Marinello protested, "I'm not a threat. I'm not a flight risk. I'm not some rich person who has a plane waiting or a car, even." He also said that, "If I had any intention of leaving, I would have left before today," citing the three months he had been free on bond and showing the judge the monitoring device strapped to his ankle. He explained that the only time he had left his mother's condo was to go to his ruined Lakeview home to feed his dog.
"My reputation in New Orleans has always been respectable. I want my day in court," Marinello added.
In explaining his financial situation to the judge and his inability to make the higher bond, Marinello told Benge that he lost his job at the radio station and he had no car or credit cards. The only income source he cited was his Social Security check that he used to support himself and his mother.
Marinello was unrepresented at the hearing. However, he was accompanied by a former New Orleans Police Department homicide detective named Danny DeNoux, who had been hired by Foret and stayed on after Foret dropped the case. DeNoux told reporters that he was with Marinello to guide him through the logistics of the indictment. "We're hoping to keep him out of jail," DeNoux said.
However, Benge didn't see it that way and, after appointing the Jefferson Parish Indigent Defender Board to represent Marinello, she ordered him taken off to jail. Her bailiff handcuffed Marinello and escorted him to the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, adjacent to the courthouse in Gretna. Liz Marinello's mother, Bertha Norman, expressed relief on hearing of Marinello's indictment and said, "We're happy he's behind bars now and hope he can't make bail."
Earlier that morning, in his status hearing in front of Joyce, another status hearing had been set for January 5, 2007. However, the indictment announced later in the day made the status hearing a moot issue.