By Lea Barrios
SACRAMENTO – During arraignments in Sacramento County Superior Court Friday a man was charged with false imprisonment and corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant, another man was also charged with corporal injury for punching his girlfriend while he was drunk, and, lastly, a man could not attend batterers’ treatment he was assigned to complete because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The arraignments were done on Zoom and live-streamed to comply with social distancing.
The first defendant was Ernest Edmons, who was charged with corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and false imprisonment.
His public defender asked for a continuance and a no contact order was served to the defendant.
Another defendant, Luis Pacheco, was also charged with corporal injury on a spouse/c0habitant after a drunken fight with his girlfriend.
Kelly Clark, a Deputy District Attorney, objected to his release because he had prior convictions in 2010, 2011, and 2014, two of which were domestic violence cases.
She stated that during the alleged incident the defendant and the complaining witness were drinking and she wanted to get away from him. She went to her car but he followed and attacked her by punching her in her arm two to three times and on the left side of her face.
The DDA contended that he is a safety threat to the complaining witness and bail should remain as set—the bail amount was not stated.
His defense counsel asked that he be released on his own recognizance because he is able to stay with his mother and is a full-time plumber, which is an essential occupation during shelter in place. The defense requested that no alcohol be a condition of his release.
During the live-stream, Judge Scott Tedmon also checked in with people who appeared to be released for reasons related to their cases to make sure they were fulfilling the conditions of their release.
Herman Jones stated that he was not able to attend batterer’s treatment classes because of the shelter-in-place order and he has been staying at home. The judge understood and gave him more time to complete his hours.
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