Rodgers Forge man charged with starving son gets bail reduced
- Original Baltimore Sun article: Rodgers Forge man charged with starving son gets bail reduced
A Baltimore County judge agreed today to reduce the bail of a Rodgers Forge man charged with murder in the death of his 2-year-old son last year.
John J. Griffin, 39, has been held at the county jail on $1.5 million bail since his arrest in December. He was charged then with child abuse, and first-degree murder charges were added in April after an autopsy revealed the child's cause of death as starvation.
Circuit Judge Timothy J. Martin reduced Griffin's bail to $100,000. He said that before Griffin could be released on bail, he would have to show proof that he will live in an apartment or extended-stay hotel while awaiting trial. He said that if Griffin does post the bail, he is to have no contact with his wife or with children younger than 15. Griffin also was ordered to check in weekly with the county's pre-trial services division.
'The court is doing this as an exercise of discretion,' the judge said. 'I could be dead wrong.'
Griffin and his wife, Susan J. Griffin, 38, are both charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of a child.
Their son, Andrew Patrick Griffin, weighed about 13 pounds -- roughly the weight of a typical 3-month-old -- when he died Dec. 26 at St. Joseph Medical Center.
Susan Griffin remains at the county jail on $1 million bail. She has not asked for a reduction in bail.
jennifer.mcmenamin@baltsun.com
Copyright © 2008 Baltimore Sun, All Rights Reserved.
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