Former death-row inmate ejected from Honolulu courtroom

Former death row inmate Isaiah McCoy was denied bail Thursday after getting removed from court during an outburst against the judge.

McCoy, 32, was in state Circuit Court to fight the prosecutor’s request to deny him the opportunity for release on bail while awaiting trial for second-degree robbery. He was free on $100,000 bail when state sheriff deputies arrested him Monday at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport attempting to board a commercial flight to Los Angeles.

One of the standard conditions of bail is to remain in the jurisdiction unless given permission by the court to leave. McCoy did not have court permission to leave the state.

He told Circuit Judge Todd Eddins that he was going to California to see his doctor, do some business related to his community activism work, then return. He had a one-way ticket. Deputy Sheriff Richard Stevenson said McCoy also had $4,520 in cash.

McCoy went to the airport without identification. The Transportation Security Administration let him pass security after a state sheriff deputy identified him.

He told Eddins that he was under the impression that his bail bondsman could grant him permission to leave the state. He had sent a text to Scott Northrup of Scott’s Bail Bonds at 12:26 p.m. Monday telling Northrup that he was leaving town and would return in 10 days.

McCoy had booked a seat on United Airlines’ 3:21 p.m. flight but showed up too late so he booked a seat on the 9:30 p.m. flight.

Northrup testified that he sent a return text asking McCoy about paying his bail bond fee. He said he didn’t think McCoy was serious about leaving until he found out McCoy was already at the airport. Northrup said he then tried calling McCoy, who didn’t answer, so he called the person who co-signed the bond to tell her McCoy could not leave the state.

McCoy told Eddins he can prove Northrup never tried calling him if given the opportunity to present his cellular telephone.

Eddins told McCoy that he would give him that opportunity on Tuesday but in the meantime he would have to remain in custody with no opportunity for release.

That was when McCoy started a tirade against Eddins, telling him, “You not going to do this to a black man. I don’t care. I done been to death row. You think I care about three years.”

The maximum penalty for second-degree robbery is 10 years in prison. McCoy had said that even if he is found guilty, he expects to get released after three years.

After accusing the prosecutor of being racially motivated and Eddins of siding with the state, McCoy continued his tirade, telling Eddins, “I don’t want no favors from you. If you choose to revoke (bail), you do that. I’m not putting no more evidence on. I’m going to keep my phone exactly where it is.”

Even after a sheriff deputy took McCoy out of the courtroom, he could be heard yelling, “You’re racist.”

McCoy is accused of beating a man in Waikiki last month and stealing the man’s $20,000 watch. He had been found guilty of a drug-related murder and sentenced to death in Delaware before getting acquitted on retrial.