Singh pleads innocent,
bail stays at $5 million
YUBA CITY (2/24/03) -- Itinerant holy man Lakhwinder Singh pleaded not guilty Monday to the Feb. 15 slaying of Prabjot Bains, but bail is to remain at $5 million, a judge ordered.
Singh, 36, is accused of shooting Bains, 28, to death during a confrontation after Singh allegedly made a pass at Bains's sister-in-law.
Bail was originally set at $1 million, but Superior Court Judge Robert Damron upped it to $5 million Friday on the grounds Singh posed a flight risk.
Singh is citizen of India and has relatives on two continents. He possesses a passport and a "green card," and earned money by performing religious services and playing music in Sikh homes.
Part of a prominent Sikh family, Bains, 28, was a high school sports. His death devastated Yuba-Sutter's tight-knit Sikh community.
More than 2,000 mourners -- some coming from as far as the United Kingdom -- turned out for Bains' funeral Saturday, making it one of the largest outpourings in local history.
It took two hours for all the praying mourners to file by the casket, attendees reported.
At the plea and bail hearing Monday, defense attorney Michael Barrette argued that police have seized Singh's passport, making him less of a flight risk.
Damron declined the request to lower the bail, saying he might reconsider it later, if circumstances changed.
Meanwhile, Damron remanded Singh to the county jail and set further proceedings for 4 p.m. March 13.
It was inadvertently stated in a prior news account that suspect Singh was friends with one of the sons of Sikh community patriarch Didar Bains. The Bee regrets the error.
bail stays at $5 million
YUBA CITY (2/24/03) -- Itinerant holy man Lakhwinder Singh pleaded not guilty Monday to the Feb. 15 slaying of Prabjot Bains, but bail is to remain at $5 million, a judge ordered.
Singh, 36, is accused of shooting Bains, 28, to death during a confrontation after Singh allegedly made a pass at Bains's sister-in-law.
Bail was originally set at $1 million, but Superior Court Judge Robert Damron upped it to $5 million Friday on the grounds Singh posed a flight risk.
Singh is citizen of India and has relatives on two continents. He possesses a passport and a "green card," and earned money by performing religious services and playing music in Sikh homes.
Part of a prominent Sikh family, Bains, 28, was a high school sports. His death devastated Yuba-Sutter's tight-knit Sikh community.
More than 2,000 mourners -- some coming from as far as the United Kingdom -- turned out for Bains' funeral Saturday, making it one of the largest outpourings in local history.
It took two hours for all the praying mourners to file by the casket, attendees reported.
At the plea and bail hearing Monday, defense attorney Michael Barrette argued that police have seized Singh's passport, making him less of a flight risk.
Damron declined the request to lower the bail, saying he might reconsider it later, if circumstances changed.
Meanwhile, Damron remanded Singh to the county jail and set further proceedings for 4 p.m. March 13.
It was inadvertently stated in a prior news account that suspect Singh was friends with one of the sons of Sikh community patriarch Didar Bains. The Bee regrets the error.
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