DALTON, Ga. — Whitfield County Superior Court Judge Cindy Morris, who in August sentenced congressional candidate Steve Foster to six months in jail for a DUI conviction, denied Foster’s request Tuesday for bond while he awaits an appeal.

Citing Foster’s history of humanitarian work in Central America, Morris said Foster could be a flight risk.

Foster, who is the Democratic candidate for the 14th Congressional seat currently held by Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, could be heard saying “waste of time” as he was escorted out of the courtroom by Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office deputies. He did not address Morris.

Foster was sentenced on Aug. 14 to six months to serve in jail and six months on probation after a jury found him guilty of DUI in September of 2017. In video and audio of the arrest released after the trial, Foster rambles and rants through the arrest, a trip to the hospital and eventual booking into the Whitfield County jail.

Richard K. Murray, Foster’s attorney, said the basis of his appeal will be Morris’ ruling on a pre-trial motion to exclude the state’s blood test evidence against Foster. Testimony at trial said Foster had a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher, which is above the legal limit in Georgia.

In dashcam video and audio recordings, Foster can be heard telling officers he wanted blood drawn and sent to several places for independent testing, including the CIA, the FBI and others. While he requested multiple tests from officers, when blood was being drawn at Hamilton Medical Center, Foster never requested independent tests.

Morris ruled that it is not the duty of officers to ensure independent testing and testing should have been arranged by Foster.

Murray argued that Foster should be given bond and released since he is not a flight risk as a lifelong resident of Whitfield County, is not a risk to the safety of others, can’t intimidate witnesses against him who are police officers and has a valid claim for appeal.

But Morris disagreed. Foster has said he has done extensive humanitarian work in Nicaragua and El Salvador, and Morris said he could easily leave the country. She also said there was no case law to grant an appeal for her ruling against the motion to suppress.

“We are not going to re-litigate the motion to suppress,” Morris said during Murray’s argument. “Quite frankly, that was a very, very clear-cut issue, and I think any appeal of the motion to suppress would be frivolous. It was abundantly clear. It was overwhelmingly clear.”

With Morris’ ruling, it is now more than likely that Foster will be in the custody of the Catoosa County jail on the Nov. 6 Election Day. Because Foster’s conviction is a misdemeanor offense, Foster remains on the ballot as state law says only a felony conviction would bar him from being on the ballot. Foster says he will not drop out of the race.