On Monday afternoon, Skybar's longtime owner Pat Grider waited in the lobby of the Lee County Justice Center waiting to learn if his appeal bond was revoked or not from Judge Jeffery G. Tickal.
The verdict was postponed, a decision that come roughly 10 months after Grider was found guilty in municipal court of forcibly groping and sexually harassing an unnamed 24-year-old female employee.
The employee also alleged Grider enquired how much money she would require for him to perform oral sex on her, as well as another offer of money to kiss him.
While a decision on the status of Grider’s bond was expected to be made today, legal obfuscation ultimately stood in the way as his legal team appeals the May 2022 ruling.
During the more than hour-long hearing presided over by Tickal, the defense and prosecution engaged in a legal duel concerning alleged jurisdictional issues in the original trial, motions to suppress and amended complaints that left most participants visibly frustrated.
According to court documents, Grider was sentenced to pay a fine of $500, pay roughly $250 in court costs and was not required to pay any restitution to the employee whose police report formed the foundation of the case against the longtime Skybar co-owner.
While he was also initially sentenced to a 180-day suspended sentence in the Lee County Detention Center, Grider ultimately served no time in jail as the sentence was suspended.
At the time of the ruling, Auburn City Prosecutor Justin Clark requested a six-month jail sentence that would have included hard labor.
According to The Auburn Villager, security camera footage shown during the trial revealed Grider grabbed one of the employee’s breasts. That footage also later showed Grider pressing another woman's underwear into her face.
While there were also allegations Grider grabbed one of the employee’s nipples and flicked the other shortly before the other actions were caught on camera, there was no video evidence to back that claim.
This case has become the latest entry into a growing list of legal disputes and troubles between Grider and the City of Auburn.
In June 2009, Grider and his brother, Daniel Grider, were complainants in a case brought against the city alleging officials “improperly enforced various laws against them in myriad ways over a period of several years.”
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Daniel Schmidt, senior in journalism, is the assistant news editor for the Auburn Plainsman.
