Maybe the third time will be the charm in Houston financier R. Allen Stanford’s efforts to get out of federal prison to help his lawyers prepare for his upcoming criminal trial. Tuesday, Stanford filed a motion seeking release from pretrial detention — or dismissal of the indictment against him — on the ground that that his constitutional due process rights have been violated. Stanford alleges in a 37-page motion that he should be released from detention “on terms and conditions which will assure his appearance for trial” under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, the effective assistance of counsel and speedy trial clauses of the Sixth Amendment, and the prohibition against excessive bail clause of the Eighth Amendment.
Senior U.S. District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas denied two earlier requests from Stanford to release him from detention, and those decisions were affirmed on appeal, Stanford notes in his new motion.
