By Susana Jurado
SACRAMENTO – The good news for a three-strikes ex-felon here Friday is that his bail was cut in half—the bad news is that the Sacramento County Superior Court judge still left him with a cool $1 million to bail out of county jail.
A convicted felon with three strikes on his record, James Bradford Nelson was one of five men apprehended after a shots-fired call last Wednesday. Police dispatch told officers that the subjects appeared to be shooting at each other in an alley.
According to the police report, when the officers arrived, they arrested two individuals on scene—one of those being Nelson. However, Nelson tried to flee the scene on foot, until he was finally detained. Later, officers found firearms on him and inside his car, two clear plastic bags with potential narcotics inside and, with further search inside his residence, they found a rifle with a 30-round 
magazine and 9mm ammunition.
After being taken into custody and driven to the main jail, the police account continued, a second case was charged against him when officers found 19.34 grams of cocaine on his person. Additionally, he also had on him $20,000 in cash. Officers reasoned he should be charged with possession of illegal drugs to sell to the public.
“He is a felon that has three strikes. He is not to be in possession of any of these items,” Deputy District Attorney Anissa Galata detailed in the opening arguments, “Rifle was located in the closet of his residence. Another live 9 mm round of ammunition was found as well. The length of the barrel of the rifle was approximately 16 inches and appeared to have a suppressor style and a muzzle break on the barrel.”
Galata also provided a lengthy description of Nelson’s criminal history dating back to 2004. As a juvenile, Nelson was charged with three counts of robbery, burglary, and domestic violence. He received his first strike in 2008 for robbery. In 2011, Nelson committed a felony by stealing another person’s car, and was sentenced to 32 months.
In 2013, Nelson got his second strike by committing another felony for assault, later receiving another 32 months in prison. In 2015, Nelson violated his parole and was charged with assault again, leading him to get his third strike. Nelson violated parole multiple times and his most recent conviction was January 2019, when he was charged with possession of controlled substances inside prison.
“We are concerned for public safety and ask that bail be set on no bail. If the court is uncomfortable with that decision, an alternative option can be accepted, in which bail should be set at $1 million, in each case,” Galata said.
Assistant Public Defender Sameera Ali did not deny the extensive criminal history; however, she did bring to the court’s attention the state judicial council’s COVID-19 emergency bail schedule, noting this ruling “did exclude prior strikes unless the current offense is a strike.” And according to the nature of these specific charges, none of them are strikes.
“Given that the nature of these crimes was felony possession of ammunition and possession of sales—the other case is a felony and possession of a firearm in which the scheduled bailed amount is $50,000. I believe keeping no bail or alternative $1 million is excessive,” she explained to the judge. “I would ask the court to follow the bail schedule as noted and, for a further bail evaluation, I wish to continue it to the next court date.”
Judge Scott L. Tedmon carefully evaluated both arguments and concluded that the bail schedule is presumptive and states that the court can look at other factors to determine bail.
“Mr. Nelson has an extensive record which includes violations of parole and multiple instances,” stated Judge Tedmon, “These are 3 strike cases. The court is going to set bail on the amount of $500,000 in each case, and that is without prejudice to another bail evaluation.”
James Bradford Nelson is currently still in custody and is set for a further bail evaluation on Monday, August 3, at 8:30 am.
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