By Linhchi Nguyen
SACRAMENTO – Judge Scott L. Tedmon released defendant Derek L. Smith from custody in Sacramento County Superior Court here Friday, despite the accusation that Smith was involved in domestic violence in front of his eight-year-old daughter.
The court formally arraigned Smith for allegedly inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and child endangerment.
Assistant Public Defender Rayla Freshwater admitted “the alleged violence is him striking the victim one time on the face,” resulting in some swelling on the victim’s face.
However, after consulting with the defendant confidentially for a few minutes, Freshwater requested the judge release Smith from custody with appropriate conditions.
“Probation has ranked his release level as a one which is the lowest level,” Freshwater explained. “He has no prior criminal record, not even an arrest. And he has no history for failing to appear in court.”
Despite the alleged violence by the defendant, Freshwater pointed out that there’s no documented history of domestic violence between him and the victim.
Furthermore, the defendant is in the process of starting a new job at Amazon, and if he were to stay in custody, he would be at a health risk given his severe asthma and the current COVID-19 situation.
However, Deputy District Attorney Kelly Clark argued that “the People’s concerns are that the defendant did commit this crime in front of their eight-year-old daughter. And the eight-year-old daughter had to be escorted out a window to get away from the defendant and the assaulted behavior.”
Freshwater mentioned that if the defendant were to be released, he would have a place to stay at his brother’s place, separated from the victim.
After taking a moment to review the records, Judge Tedmon ultimately decided to grant Freshwater’s request to release Smith pretrial on Level 3 (stricter than Level 1) because “I don’t think Level 1 is appropriate given the totality of the facts here.”
Smith’s conditions of release require he report to the pretrial services department within 48 hours of release, have monthly office visits with pretrial services, and not violate any local or state laws. The Level 3 release initially included a search and seizure condition, but Judge Tedmon struck that because “there doesn’t seem to be any need to impose that condition.”
Lastly, Freshwater scheduled with the court to have the defendant return to court on October 19 at 8:30 a.m.
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