MANHATTAN: JUROR ALLOWED TO POST BAIL

A Manhattan judge, disagreeing with another judge, allowed a juror to
post $10,000 bail yesterday for a man she had refused to convict
because she believed him to be a victim of harsh drug laws. The
defendant, Calvin Baker, was arrested in December 1999 and imprisoned
on charges that he had sold $10 worth of heroin. After a mistrial was
declared, the holdout juror, Paula Thomson, wanted to post bail for
Mr. Baker, who is awaiting retrial. Justice Bonnie Wittner of State
Supreme Court in Manhattan contended that bail posted by a stranger
would not ensure Mr. Baker's return to court. But yesterday, Justice
Brenda Soloff ruled that nothing in state law prevented the aid of
strangers and that Mr. Baker could be freed once bail was officially
posted.