By Jordyn Gleaton
DUBLIN, CA – There is a lot of room to negotiate between no bail release that the defense requested and bail of $9.37 million the prosecution wanted here in Alameda County Superior Court.
In the end, gang-affiliated Anthony Denis – even with ties to the community – was denied release for any amount of bail.
Defense Attorney Michael Cardoza argued that his client should be released from custody on O.R. (own recognizance with no bail) or that bail be set at a reasonable amount, under $500,000.
Cardoza states that Denis has many ties to the community and is not a flight risk, which is shown in the many letters sent to the court by Denis’s family and friends, attesting to his character.
But there’s another side to that story.
Deputy District Attorney Andrew Ross objected to setting bail at all because of the nature of the charges against Denis and his previous crimes. Ross argued that if all of the charges were to be stacked, bail would be set to $9.37 million.
Ross announced that this is not the only instance in which Denis has blatantly disregarded the law, describing how Denis drove to rival gang territory, parked his car in the middle of the road, and then shot at three rival gang members, who returned fire.
Ross alleged the shooting resulted in many cars being struck with bullets, with one bullet hitting an innocent
bystander in the arm and then lodging in her neck. The young woman was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery and survived.
At the time, the DDA said, Denis was on two separate probations for possession of illegally owned handguns and ammunition from 2016 and 2017. Denis was also on probation from a shooting with a rivalry gang in January 2018 in which 30 rounds of shots were fired and he suffered a bullet wound.
After that incident, Denis was placed in custody for one year and was sentenced to five years of felony probation. He was released from custody on Oct. 17, 2018. However, the event associated with this current charge occurred on June 18, 2019, meaning Denis was only on probation for a short amount of time before being re-arrested.
“This defendant has demonstrated he has no regard for the law, he has no regard for the safety of others, he has no regard for any order of this court, and if released from custody will re-engage in the same violent, dangerous, life-threatening conduct…” and suggested that bail be set at $9.37 million.
Cardoza understood his client’s record but stated that there were outlying circumstances to the incident associated with this charge and insisted that bail of $9.37 million was unreasonable and unfair. Cardoza claimed that setting bail under $500,000 was reasonable and would ensure that Denis would return to the court.
Despite the many letters from family and friends attesting to Denis’s character and his community ties, the Alameda County Superior Court has denied bail. The pretrial hearing is scheduled to begin on April 14 at 9 a.m.
Jordyn Gleaton is a court watch reporter for The Vanguard at Berkeley. She is a first year student at UC Berkeley studying Political Science and Legal Studies. She is from Tracy, CA.
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