WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. _ A former Palm Beach Gardens police officer will have to wait two more days to find out whether a judge will allow him to regain his freedom as he fights two convictions and a 25-year prison sentence for the 2015 on-duty shooting death of stranded motorist Corey Jones.
Circuit Judge Joseph Marx at the end of a brief but emotional hearing in Nouman Raja's manslaughter and attempted murder case said he expects to issue a written decision by Friday on whether he will allow an appellate bond for Raja, 41, who already has begun serving his prison sentence following his conviction before a Palm Beach County jury in March.
Marx started the hearing by saying that he already had concluded based on the law that Raja's conviction on two charges did not preclude him from an appellate bond. He also determined that Raja was eligible based on issues he plans to appeal, including objections to decisions Marx made about jury instructions.
The only thing Marx wanted prosecutors and defense attorneys to debate is whether Raja would be a flight risk.
It was this topic that produced the most tension, beginning with claims from Jones' father, Clinton Jones Sr., and stepmother, Kattie Jones, that Raja's post-conviction quest for freedom was "a desperate attempt at self-preservation."
"Letting him out now is like being an accessory to his flight," Kattie Jones told the judge, reading from a prepared statement.
Both Raja's wife, Karine, and Marx took offense, saying they were "taken aback" by the family's choice of words.
"I didn't appreciate it," Marx told the Jones family regarding the inference that he would be complicit if Raja fled.
Marx said he would let the comments "wash over" him and said that it would have no impact on his ruling.
Raja, who has been housed at the Florida Department of Corrections' South Florida Reception Center in Doral since May 1, was not present for Wednesday's hearing, although court records show his attorneys had requested last week that he be transported to West Palm Beach to attend.
Defense attorney Richard Lubin told Marx that if he issued an appellate bond for Raja, Karine Raja would be willing to surrender her passport along with the passports of the couple's two children. Raja already gave up his passport as part of his pretrial bond and house arrest after his 2016 arrest.
Assistant State Attorney Brian Fernandes pointed out to Marx that Raja had ties to the Middle East in areas that did not have an extradition treaty with the United States. Karine Raja told Marx that Raja has not been to his native Pakistan since 2001. She said there was no way that he would leave if released _ with or without her and their children _ and that their push for his release is so that he could help support their family during his appeal.
"I know him as a human being and I can guarantee that he would be here for any hearing," Karine Raja said.
Raja in March became the first Florida police officer in 30 years to be convicted of a crime in connection with an on-duty death. The conviction came more than three years after his brief but deadly encounter on the off-ramp of Interstate 95 with Jones, whose SUV had broken down on his way home from a gig as a drummer with the band Future Prezidents.
Raja, who was in plainclothes working a burglary detail, was on his way to another call when he saw the car and approached by driving the wrong way up the exit ramp. Raja said he thought the vehicle was empty and was surprised when he saw Jones. He said he introduced himself as a police officer and shot Jones when Jones pointed a gun at him.
An audio recording of the confrontation, captured through Jones' call to roadside assistance, did not capture Raja identifying himself as a police officer. It caught Raja asking Jones if he was "good" several times before yelling at him to get his hands up and Jones pleading "hold on" before the gunfire.
Prosecutors told jurors that the recording, as well as several contradictions in Raja's videotaped statement to investigators after the shooting, showed Raja was lying to cover up that he was criminally negligent in creating the deadly confrontation and that the final three of six shots he ultimately fired constituted a premeditated attempt to kill Jones.
Jones' gun, for which he had a concealed carry permit, was found, unfired, more than 40 years from his body. Prosecutors say Jones was already trying to run away from Raja when the gunfire began, and Jones' family and their attorneys have said that he died never knowing the man who shot him was a cop.
After Wednesday's hearing, Jones' father and stepmother said it wasn't their intention to offend the judge.
"That's our heart, that's how we feel," Clinton Jones Sr. said. "If the judge was offended, that was his right. I'm thinking about my son, who I will never get to see again."
Lubin and the rest of Raja's defense team after the hearing said they are confident Raja will win his appeal and get a new trial.
