Celebrity Court

Although many expected rapper T.I. to be released on bond following his hearing before a magistrate yesterday, he was instead ordered to remain in jail until Friday on weapons charges. He was arrested after reportedy purchasing several machine guns from a man who was cooperating with federal officials.

According to TMZ, the Friday court hearing will be to determine if there is probable cause to detain T.I. and whether or not he will be given bond. Certainly the judge is going to find probable cause for the arrest, even based on what little we know about the case. It does not take all that much to amount to probable cause, only that at the time of the arrest, there is a “a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed.” Presumably there were a number of police officers watching the buy go down and that is sufficient for probable cause.

The real focus of the hearing will likely be the bond. The prosecutors are reportedly arguing for no bail, presumably because he is a flight risk and because of the potential danger to the community.  Anyone with a lot of money can be a potential flight risk, although typically people with money can make bail, which is probably why they want to get no-bond.

T.I.’s previous convictions, as well as the number of weapons that he allegedly attempted to purchase are things that the judge will considering in deciding whether to grant him bond. Usually no-bond cases are reserved for defendants facing murder charges or other violent crimes. I cannot imagine the judge giving him no-bond, no matter how menacing the cache of weapons looks.

The photo above, courtesy of TMZ, shows the weapons that T.I. allegedly purchased.

T.I., weapons charges