Thomas Markle, Meghan Markle's father, was arrested on Friday in Florida for possession of child pornography. After a brief hearing, the judge decided to release him on bail and with an electronic bracelet to monitor his movements. However, this Tuesday it became known that last night Markle cut off said bracelet, which has caused the Prosecutor's Office to demand that she go to prison. Finally, a few hours later, Judge Lindsay Griffin, who is handling the case, did so, arresting him and placing him in federal custody.
Markle, 82, who has an amputated leg, which makes her use a wheelchair, and whom the judge in the case suspects has a certain dementia or mental incapacity, took off her bracelet at 1:45 a.m. local time, as can be seen in court documents to which media such as the British newspaper Daily Mail or the Page Six portal have had access. Hence now the attorney for the central district of California, named Bill Eassayli, has asked on social networks for him to go to prison.
"Four days ago, a federal judge allowed Markle to remain free pending trial," the prosecutor wrote on his After that, finally, Judge Lindsay Griffin, of the central district of Florida, has decided to arrest him and put him in prison without bail.
Markle has been living in Florida for a few months, near the second of his three children, Samantha Markle, the only one with whom he has a relationship. However, the pornographic material he possesses, according to the authorities' accusations, is in California, in Los Angeles. Hence, he may face a trial in California, and it will be the prosecutor of that area who requests his imprisonment.
In addition, Judge Griffin, who is handling Markle's case, has asked that she pass an exhaustive battery of tests, both physical and mental, before her first court hearing, which will take place in 10 days. In that medical petition, Griffin states that he finds "reasonable cause to believe that the defendant may suffer from a mental illness or a mentally incapacitating disorder." In fact, the judge believes that this illness, which several American media indicate as dementia, would reach "the point of not being able to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or provide due assistance in his defense."
Thus, by Friday, November 20, at the latest, the judge must have Markle's background, a list of her symptoms and all psychological and psychiatric tests, as well as the conclusions of an independent psychiatrist.
Following his arrest last Friday, two weeks after his eldest son, Thomas Markle Jr., accused him of possession of pornography from the Philippines (where he lived for a few years), the Duchess of Sussex's father pleaded not guilty. The judge decided to impose the payment of bail (the amount is unknown) and the use of said bracelet, and prohibited him from accessing the Internet, having contact with minors and also leaving the specific areas of both Florida and California where he may be tried.
The crime of which Markle is accused is possession of pornography, after finding up to 78 items - photographs, slides, negatives, videos - in two storage rooms in Los Angeles whose rent he had been paying without pause since 2008. That charge could mean up to 20 years in prison, although the usual is between seven and eight years.
The Duchess of Sussex, wife of Prince Henry of England (son of King Charles III, and fifth in line to the British throne), has not commented on the matter on this occasion. This Tuesday, the couple went to Brussels to give a speech before the European Parliament. It was the first time the Duchess had been seen in public since her father's arrest. However, he has decided to cancel the speech he was going to give, focused on the importance of children's digital security, which was given only by the prince.
But when the first complaint became known, at the end of October, made by Markle Junior, Meghan Markle did speak. She explained in a long statement that already in 2018 the British police informed her of the existence of a letter in which this criminal behavior on the part of Thomas Markle was pointed out.
"It contained worrying and disturbing accusations against my father and I was assured that they were being investigated," the former actress wrote in a statement, in which she claimed to be "deeply shocked" by the accusations. "I hope it can now be understood that, despite distortion by certain media publications over the years, any distancing from my father and my decision not to allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them."
