Judge Scott McAfee of the Superior Court of Fulton County presided over a hearing on Tuesday afternoon to hear arguments and testimony about the possible revocation of Harrison Floyd's bond.

This came after the defendant made multiple social media posts in which he tagged witnesses in the case where he was indicted alongside former President Donald Trump, as The Epoch Times reported.

The indictment came as a result of the defendant's alleged participation in interfering with the elections during the 2020 presidential election.

The judge in this case said social media had complicated the standard terms used in conditions of release

Judge's Comments

A "technical violation of Mr. Floyd's bond" occurred, according to the judge, and his communications "wound up before the eyes and ears of potential witnesses and codefendants.

"But not every violation requires revocation," Judge McAfee said.

Because of how social media works, the judge ruled that the bond wasn't written in any way that was clear enough.

"It's very clear that this bond needs to be modified and I think it needs to specifically prevent any public comment concerning Ms. [Ruby] Freeman, concerning her daughter, and concerning other witnesses that need to be included," the judge said.

Later, he said that the evidence shows that mentioning them on a large social media platform can have the same effect as talking to specific people.

Request for Additional Documents

The judge has requested that both parties submit proposals to modify the bond, and has also indicated that the prosecution may file another motion of revocation should any defendant again violate the terms of their release. As soon as the ruling was announced, they had an off-record meeting with the intention of reaching a new agreement that day.

"The trial court has to balance the rights of the accused, as well as the public safety interests that are raised by any particular case," Judge McAfee said.

"But I'll note that a defendant is generally allowed to criticize the merits of a case to say that the prosecution doesn't have a case, to challenge the evidence, to speak his mind. And I don't see anything in this consent bond order that limited the general criticism of the state's case."

McAfee determined, after examining the arguments and evidence, that Mr. Floyd had not engaged in conduct that the conditions were intended to prohibit, such as posting the address of a witness, nor had he ordered anything to be done to any witness.

"I read these [posts] are seeing more that someone is wanting to defend his case in a very public way," Judge McAfee said.