Ms. Manslaughter Suspects Awaits Trial at Home

A U.S. magistrate says a 58-year-old Mississippi man can wear an electronic monitor at home while awaiting trial in the death of a Dutch bicyclist on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Wendell Blount of Calhoun County has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. His trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 7.

Esther Hageman, a 51-year-old journalist from Leiden, Netherlands, was struck by a sports utility vehicle April 22 on the parkway.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that Blount appeared Tuesday before Magistrate David Sanders, who set bond at $10,000 and put other restrictions on Sanders' release, including that he not drive. Sanders had been jailed since he was indicted Oct. 8.

------

Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, http://nems360.com/

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)