A Pulaski County circuit judge who ruled Monday that boxer Jermain Taylor could leave a rehabilitation center to attend church once a week has rescinded that ruling.
Judge Leon Johnson gave no explanation for the turnabout in a court order filed Wednesday afternoon. He had previously granted Taylor, 36, permission to attend Sunday church services between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the condition that Taylor be accompanied by a counselor and not socialize.
Taylor's attorney, Christian Alexander, did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.
Prosecutor John Johnson said the judge informed his office via email that the ruling had been changed. Johnson said prosecutors had objected to Taylor's weekly three-hour release, but didn't ask for the ruling to be rescinded.
"We got an email from his law clerk and that was it," he said.
Taylor's attorney had also requested Monday that the boxer be allowed to visit his home once a week to handle business matters. Johnson denied that request.
Taylor was arrested at his North Little Rock home in August over accusations he shot his cousin there and threatened another man. He was released on bond but arrested again in January after police said he threatened a family of five by shooting a gun during Little Rock's annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade.
Judge Johnson revoked Taylor's bond and jailed the boxer, saying Taylor would only be released if he entered a substance-abuse treatment facility. Court records show Taylor was released from jail March 3 after enrolling in Recovery Centers of Arkansas.
While under court supervision, Taylor underwent mental and physical health assessments that showed he likely had brain damage from boxing, which doctors said affects his ability to control himself when using marijuana or alcohol.
Taylor faces charges of first-degree battery and first-degree terroristic threatening in his cousin's shooting. According to the Pulaski County sheriff's office, Taylor told deputies the cousin, Tyrone Hinton, 42, went onto his property uninvited and a confrontation ensued.
In his January arrest, Taylor was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, possession of a controlled substance and five counts of aggravated assault. Police said Taylor fired several shots and threatened to kill a man, his wife and their three children after one of the children dropped his International Boxing Federation middleweight championship belt. Taylor had marijuana and a pistol in his possession when he was arrested, according to police.
A boxing federation stripped Taylor of his title weeks later on grounds that his legal troubles would keep him from making a mandatory title defense.
Taylor's next court appearance is scheduled for May 29.
Metro on 05/01/2015