Barry Stokes, the disgraced leader of 1Point Solutions, is asking to be let of jail before his September trial date because of mounting health problems and neglect on the part of the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office.
In an eight-page motion filed yesterday in District Court, Stokes’ attorney Paul Bruno appeals to Judge Robert Echols as “a matter of basic human decency,” claiming his client has serious health problems and no longer poses a flight risk as he has “practically no assets” with which to run.
Chief among the medical concerns is the preliminary diagnosis of lymphoma, which Stokes apparently received in May of this year. Given the level of care his client claims to have received since being incarcerated, Bruno argues that Stokes in unable to focus on his pending criminal trial.
In addition to lymphoma, Stokes adds a shopping list of other medical problems he has experienced while incarcerated, including but not limited to deep vein thrombosis in his leg, a possible torn tendon in the ankle, a possible cracked rib, a diet poorly suited to a diabetic's nutritional needs and uncontrollable itching. While the conditions are many and varied, it is hard to say if they will sway Echols to sympathy with the trial date so close at hand.
Stokes’ previous bid for pretrial freedom, which came a little more than a year ago, was denied after Judge Clifton Knowles essentially ruled that he was a flight risk. The document found on Stokes’ computer entitled “How to Change Your Identity” probably didn’t help in that hearing despite his claims that it was to be used to address security issues for a pending contract between 1Point and American Express.
As it currently stands, Stokes’ trial is set to begin Sept. 9.