Jochen Wiest, the man accused of setting the tree fire at Toomer's Corner in Auburn earlier this fall, has requested a change to the conditions of his bond to allow him to return to his native Germany pending the resolution of the charges in the case and a hearing is set on the matter later this month.Per the terms of Wiest's $3,500 bond for the charges against him of first-degree felony criminal mischief, desecration of a venerable object and public intoxication, the 29-year-old is not permitted to leave the state and surrendered his passport to the Lee County Circuit Court clerk.In a motion to modify the conditions of release filed late Sunday evening, Wiest's attorney, Margaret Brown, claims he is unable to support himself and his family and "may be in violation of his terms of entry into the United States if not employed. Requiring the defendant to remain in the United States pending the final disposition of this case is punitive."A hearing regarding Wiest's bond conditions is set for the morning of Nov. 30.The motion states Wiest is "willing to deposit more funds in cash with the court in order to be allowed to return to his home in Germany pending the resolution of the charges against him" and "may be willing to sign waiver of extradition under the present treaty between the United States and Germany, if necessary, in order to insure his appearance in court subsequent to his indictment."Wiest was employed at the Opelika plant Baxter International, a health care company that suspended him following his Sept. 25 arrest. A Baxter spokesman did not immediately respond to an inquiry into Wiest's present employment status with the company.A preliminary hearing was held last month in the case against Wiest and Lee County Circuit Court judge Steven Speakman bound the case over to the grand jury.The motion claims a grand jury has met - one was scheduled for the week following the preliminary hearing - and the case was not presented at that time. Brown claims the grand jury scheduled for January has been cancelled and a grand jury wont meet again until March 2017."This case is not complicated and could have easily been presented to the first grand jury following the defendant's arrest," the motion reads.According to court documents, Wiest, who had a black lighter in his possession when he was arrested shortly after midnight Spet. 25, "provided a rights advised statement denying that he started the fire," to the W. Magnolia Ave. tree.The school has asked fans not to roll the damaged tree. and an assessment by Auburn professor of horticulture Dr. Gary Keever last month found that "60-70 percent of the tree's canopy is dead."The penalty for criminal mischief, a Class C felony in Alabama, can range from no less than one year and one day to no more than 10 years in jail. Desecration of a venerable object and public intoxication, both misdemeanors, carry a penalty of up to one year in jail and up to a $6,000 fine.
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