Kelly Ryan, who faces charges of arson and being an accessory to murder, appears in Las Vegas Justice Court in a Tuesday video conference. Ryan is the female half of the weightlifting duo who are suspects in the slaying of 28-year-old Melissa James. Photo by Gary Thompson.

National fitness champion Kelly Ryan made her first Las Vegas court appearance Tuesday to face charges of arson and being an accessory to murder, but the validity of the latter charge appears to be in question.

Ryan appeared well-rested and at ease in her 7:30 a.m. video conference appearance in the courtroom of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joseph Bonaventure.

Discussion about bail was postponed to a hearing today, when her husband and co-defendant, Craig Titus, will make his first Las Vegas court appearance in the case.

But late Tuesday, Ryan's defense lawyer, Tom Pitaro, filed a legal motion saying Nevada law prevents authorities from charging Ryan with being an accessory to the murder of the couple's 28-year-old personal assistant, Melissa James.

Authorities allege Titus killed James, and Pitaro said Nevada law states that a person cannot be charged with being an accessory to a crime allegedly committed by his or her spouse.

"A wife cannot be criminally liable as an accessory after the fact to a felony committed by her husband," Pitaro wrote in a court motion. "A spouse is specifically exempted from criminal liability by the express words of the statute."

The issue is expected to be examined this morning in Bonaventure's courtroom, where Ryan's husband, Titus, is expected to make his initial appearance.

Pitaro has filed a motion asking Bonaventure to set a reasonable bail for Ryan, but prosecutors are seeking a high bail because they contend she has shown she is a flight risk by traveling to the Boston area after James was found slain in Ryan's car.

"They were leaving Las Vegas to flee to a country with a 'non-extradition' policy," prosecutor Robert Daskas wrote in a motion seeking a high bail.

Prosecutors disputed defense attorneys' contentions that Titus and Ryan did not know they were wanted in connection with the death when they were driving to the Boston area.

Ryan "admitted (to an FBI agent) that she knew she was wanted for murder," Daskas wrote.

Ryan and Titus stopped using their cell phones on the trip, and authorities found "$8,300 cash hidden in a false bottom of an aerosol can" in Titus' truck, Daskas said.

Ryan told the FBI agent that she and Titus never stayed in a hotel room on their drive to Boston because "they were afraid of being recognized," Daskas said.

The homicide and the manhunt for Titus and Ryan received national publicity because Titus and Ryan are bodybuilding champions who have appeared on the covers of magazines.

Titus is a past place-winner of the international Mr. Olympia competitions, and Ryan is a past Ms. Fitness America and Ms. Olympia runner-up.

Titus' defense attorneys, Richard Schonfeld and Steven Boozang, said the public should reserve judgment.

"When all the facts and circumstances come to light, they are going to have an entirely different picture of this case," Schonfeld said.

James, the couple's live-in personal assistant, was found strangled and burned in the back of Ryan's torched red Jaguar on Dec. 14, off state Route 160.

A friend of the couple, Anthony R. Gross, 23, is charged with arson and being an accessory to murder because, authorities allege, he helped Ryan and Titus dispose of the body.

Titus told police that he was having an affair with the younger woman and that his wife did not know about the affair, according to report police filed to obtain the arrest warrants.

Titus and Ryan later told police that they had discovered James was stealing from them and kicked her out of their house in southwest Las Vegas, the report said.

They also alleged James had stolen Ryan's car, but neither allegation was reported to police until after James' body was found, according to the report.

Police have obtained video surveillance footage that showed Ryan buying several large bottles of lighter fluid at a Wal-Mart in northwest Las Vegas about 30 minutes before James' body being set afire, according to the court motion filed by prosecutors late Tuesday.