Judge sets $10M bail for Oates

Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour set bond Monday for Stephen Oates, the man accused of the January 2008 killing of graduate student Abhijit Mahato.

Baddour set bond for Oates, 29, at $10 million-an amount requested by Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline. Baddour agreed to the bond at a court hearing at the Durham County Courthouse.

Mark Edwards, Oates' defense attorney, said in an interview that Oates will remain behind bars because he is unable to post the 10 percent needed for bond.

During Monday's bail hearing, Cline also announced her plan not to seek the death penalty for Oates, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported Tuesday.

Edwards said he is not surprised by Cline's decision because of the weaknesses he sees in the case.

"They have no physical evidence tying anyone to the actual crime," Edwards said. "Their only evidence is the statement of two other people who were shot and when showed a picture of Mr. Oates, identified him as the shooter. However, when my investigators questioned them, they were adamant that he was not the shooter."

Prosecutors believe that Oates, along with Laurence Lovette, robbed Mahato in front of his apartment on Central Campus. During the robbery, Mahato was killed by a single-shot to the head.

Lovette also faces charges for the March 2008 murder of Eve Carson, then-senior and student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.