Singer of US heavy metal band released in Prague

The Associated Press, Friday, August 3, 2012, 5:56am (PDT)

PRAGUE (AP) -- The frontman of U.S. heavy metal band Lamb of God has been released on $400,000 bail from a Prague prison, several weeks after his arrest in connection with a fan's death in 2010, a court official said Friday.

Randy Blythe, 41, was arrested on June 27 and is being investigated for bodily harm resulting in death.

His Czech lawyer, Martin Radvan, said Blythe left Prague for the United States on Friday, a day after his release.

Radvan said that police believe that during a 2010 concert in Prague an audience member climbed onto the stage and Blythe pushed him off. The fan hit the floor with his head and later died of the injuries, police said.

Blythe said he was not aware of what had happened to the fan at Prague's Abaton club and was surprised to be arrested when he returned to the Czech Republic to play another show scheduled on June 28, said Radvan.

"We don't know yet if (the death) was caused by our client or in a different way," the lawyer said. The police investigation is unlikely to be completed until winter, he said.

Martina Lhotakova, a spokeswoman for Prague's Municipal Court, said Blythe was released Thursday when the court upheld a lower court decision that had rejected a request by prosecutors to keep Blythe in custody.

The prosecutors argued that Blythe could leave the country and never return.