By Madison Forwood
SACRAMENTO – Defendant Shabondy Simpson should be in jail Tuesday morning on $1 million bail.
He was out of custody Monday until a hearing in Sacramento County Superior Court went “south,” and the judge ruled he had to turn himself in to the Sheriff department by 5 p.m. Monday night.
The defendant has been charged with the following three counts: preventing or persuading the attendance of a witness by force, causing corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Defendant Simpson has retained a private attorney, Russ Wyatt to represent him in this case, and Jenna Saavedra is the prosecuting attorney on behalf of the District Attorney.
DDA Saavedra asked the court if they were inclined to hear a bail motion at this time, and the judge was able to identify that previous bail was set ‘way below schedule.’
Saavedra stated, “The people request Mr. Simpson be remanded, obviously he is appearing via zoom, my request that bail be set at schedule at $1 million.”
She continued, “In terms of criminal history, the defendant has a prior 207 kidnapping, 245 a1, a second kidnapping and a second 245a1 from 2001. He served 17 years state prison on those charges. He has a 646.9 stalking that he served eight months consecutive, a separate case. He has a recent 273.5 misdemeanor for which he is still currently on probation. In reading through the facts of the case, the victim indicated the defendant was upset with her, he was calling her phone, she didn’t answer, he was upset because she was late to make her breakfast.”
The prosecuting attorney continued to share the violent details of the alleged attack, noting: “The neighbors are the individuals that subsequently called 9-1-1 on her behalf. He pulled her up and told her to get into the bathroom to shower and get cleaned up. She stated that she was so scared when she was in the bathroom he told her it was ‘all over’… She states that she is very afraid of him if he gets out she knows that he is going to hurt her. He has told her before that a restraining order is only a piece of paper.”
While on the scene of the active crime the defendant allegedly failed to comply with police orders and allegedly said, “You want a murder, you want a murder.” He then paced back and forth.
The police subsequently searched the residence of the domestic violence call where they found a loaded firearm. The prosecutor read the descriptive report, “located a black semi-automatic black handgun wrapped in a blue towel it had a full magazine with seven millimeter rounds in it. It was an unregistered firearm.”
The prosecutor concluded her motion, “Based on his DV history and his prior strikes for which he served 17 years in prison, I believe he is a public safety risk to obviously the public but most importantly the victim. My request is that bail be set at $1 million.”
Defendant Simpson asked if he could speak but the judge quickly warned him, what he might say “can and would be used against you in court…that’s why it’s generally not advised to speak on your own behalf.”
The defendant’s attorney requested a few moments to privately discuss matters as he was very recently retained by his client.
Defendant Simpson and Wyatt returned to the courtroom via Zoom, stating “We are going to submit to Ms. Saavedra’s motion as long as it is without prejudice.”
Saavedra stated, “I would just ask the defendant to turn himself into the Sheriff’s department by 5 o’clock today.”
Judge Tedmon affirmed this request, and set a $1 million bail in the meantime if the defendant doesn’t turn himself into the Sacramento Sheriff’s department.
A bail hearing for the defendant will be on Nov. 9 in Dept. 60 in Sacramento Superior Court of California.
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