In Reversal, Pring-Wilson Allowed Bail

A Superior Court judge agreed yesterday to release Alexander Pring-Wilson on $400,000 bail, reversing a lower court decision that had kept the Harvard graduate student in jail since his April 12 arrest on murder charges.

Pring-Wilson—who will be placed under house arrest and monitored with an electronic device—was expected to post bail this morning.

A 25-year-old graduate student who was set to earn his master’s degree from Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies this spring, Pring-Wilson is charged with first degree murder for stabbing and killing Michael D. Colono, an 18-year-old Cambridge resident.

Pring-Wilson stood expressionless as Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Geraldine Hines delivered yesterday’s ruling, which reversed an April 18 district court decision to deny bail to Pring-Wilson.

Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Lynch argued yesterday that the court should once again deny Pring-Wilson’s request for bail, due to “the serious nature of the crime, the strength of the government’s case and the flight risk [Pring-Wilson] poses given his resources.”

The lower court judge had ruled that these specific factors justified keeping Pring-Wilson behind bars while awaiting trial.

But Hines said yesterday that she was not convinced. Pring-Wilson is unlikely to flee, she said.

Hines added however, that her decision was not colored by Pring-Wilson’s education and financial background. Family, friends and Harvard acquaintances had vouched on Pring-Wilson’s behalf, while prosecutors argued that his travel experience and knowledge of several languages made him a flight risk,

“It’s not about the defendant’s class. I’m not impressed with the fact that it is a Harvard student,” Hines said. She added, however, that she was confident he would make required court appearances.

Hines imposed several conditions in her ruling.

Allowed to leave his Somerville apartment only to meet with his attorney or doctors, Pring-Wilson must also meet weekly with a probation officer, avoid drug use and alcohol consumption, surrender his passport and maintain no contact with witnesses in the case. He must stay in Massachusetts for the duration of the trial unless he obtains special permission from the court, Hines ruled yesterday.

While about a dozen friends and family of Colono, the slain Cambridge teen, looked on with disappointment during the ruling, those close to Pring-Wilson embraced each other with relief outside the packed courtroom.

Denner said his client will help prepare his own defense and continue to work on his thesis about the reconstruction of post-war Bosnia, in the apartment he shares with two other students near Davis Square.

Denner, who told the court that Pring-Wilson’s family had already collected $300,000 for bail, said Pring-Wilson has taken a voluntarily leave of absence from Harvard and will not graduate as planned this spring.

Both Pring-Wilson’s mother, Cynthia M. Pring, and father, Ross A. Wilson, are Colorado attorneys and will help in their son’s defense.

Pring-Wilson is charged with murder in the first degree, defined as either a premeditated or excessively cruel murder.

Denner focused yesterday on Pring-Wilson’s exemplary background and spotless record. He said these are indicators his client will not threaten the community in any way. He suggested that explanations surrounding the disputed details of the fight are irrelevant until a trial by jury.

Recounting the Night

The arguments presented at yesterday’s arraignment mirrored those of the district court hearing, but the attorneys added a few more details to their divergent accounts of the altercation.

According to both Denner and Lynch, Pring-Wilson was walking to his apartment in Davis Square from the Western Front, a pub in Cambridge early on the morning of April 12.

Lynch said Pring-Wilson told police officers he had been drinking.

As he walked past Pizza Ring on Western Ave. in Cambridge, Pring-Wilson, who was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone, overheard a man in a parked car say something about him, his attorney said.

According to the prosecutor’s account, Colono, who was sitting in a car with his cousin and a woman, commented on Pring-Wilson, pointing out “that guy staggering” up the street in flip-flops and a yellow rain slicker.

Denner and prosecutors agree that after overhearing the remark Pring-Wilson approached the car, and a verbal altercation ensued.

Pring-Wilson opened the car door, and the altercation escalated into a fist fight, Lynch said.

Denner and Lynch agreed that Samuel E. Rodriguez, Colono’s cousin, joined in the fight, punching Pring-Wilson at least once.

At some point in the fight, prosecutors said, Pring-Wilson stabbed Colono five times with a pocket knife later recovered in his apartment.

Denner said that his client did not instigate either the verbal or physical altercation, and stabbed Colono in self-defense after he was assaulted.

According to Denner, his client suffered a concussion in the fight.

Colono and the two people in his car then left the scene, Lynch said, because Colono did not realize he had been stabbed.

According to Lynch, Pring-Wilson called 911 once Colono had left and when police arrived, professed to be a bystander to the incident.

Lynch argued today that Pring-Wilson “has attempted to avoid responsibility” and was “trying to cover up his wrongful conduct” by lying to the police.

But Denner said the misleading 911 call merely demonstrates his client’s traumatized state after the altercation.

“He could have balled up his yellow-slicker and thrown it away, but he called 911,” Denner said. “What he wants to do is have a hearing and regain his reputation.”

Colono later died at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Pring-Wilson was arrested at his apartment later that morning.

Before the district court bail hearing, Denner arranged for Pring-Wilson to undergo a polygraph test, in addition to medical evaluations.

Lynch argued yesterday that the court should not consider the results of the polygraph test—which supported Pring-Wilson’s claim that he would not leave town. She said polygraphs “are not scientifically accurate,” especially in predicting future occurrences.

Denner said Pring-Wilson would post bail this morning.

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for May 30 at 11 a.m. in Middlesex County Superior Court.

—Andrew M. Sadowski contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Hana R. Alberts can be reached at alberts@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Jenifer L. Steinhardt can be reached at steinhar@fas.harvard.edu.