During a preliminary hearing Monday, Municipal Court Judge Deborah Griffin unexpectedly dropped the attempted-murder charge and reduced the original bail, set at $5 million, to $75,000.
Griffin said the $5 million bail was excessive, calling it an "outrageous ransom."
And she agreed with Boddy-Johnson's lawyer, Michael Coard, that the teen had not intended to kill Kelley, just rob him of his laptop and handgun.
The District Attorney's Office immediately responded by appealing to Lerner to temporarily reinstate both the attempted murder charge and the $5 million bail until hearings were held on each.
Yesterday, Lerner agreed that $5 million was too high and reduced it to a level Assistant District Attorney Erica Wilson later called "satisfactory."
"Even as it stands, his record is incredibly serious," Lerner said of the teen during the hearing. The nature of the crime "indicates a substantial degree of danger to the community."
"Though there are no failures to appear, that is because he hardly had contact with the juvenile system," Lerner said. The potential danger "justifies extraordinary, high bail and additional safeguards."
Those safeguards, Lerner said, would include the stipulation that even if bail is posted, Boddy-Johnson could be released only on house arrest and electronic monitoring.
Even then, he would not be permitted to leave home except for court appearances or prescheduled appointments with his lawyer.
Prior to the ruling, Kelley, who is still healing from a gaping wound in his side, worried that if a suspect was bold enough to attempt to rob a police officer, "the rest of the civilians don't stand a chance."
Afterward, Kelley was relieved.
"I'm satisfied. This is an appropriate" amount, Kelley said.
