By Hongyi Wen
SACRAMENTO, CA – The testimony presented in Judge Donald Currier’s department in Sacramento County Superior Court this week at the preliminary hearing for Michael Maldonado—accused of multiple felony and misdemeanor charges involving criminal threats, domestic violence, firearm and drug counts—became very dramatic.
“If you leave me, I will kill you,” defendant Maldonado allegedly said in a rage, as he allegedly threatened his girlfriend with a gun pointed toward the sky, after she decided to move away from him.
The previous day, the girlfriend stormed out of the trailer after a heated argument, and Maldonado allegedly chased after the victim and choked her, then dragged her back into the trailer.
When the victim’s family came to help her move the trailer to a new location, Maldonado is accused of chasing after the victim’s car and pulling out a gun to threaten the victim, but was eventually arrested by authorities at an industrial warehouse. 
The first witness, Officer Matthew Morgan, described the victim’s condition when he arrived at the scene, noting, “She had a couple of scratches on the left side of her face, she had visible bruises on her body, on her arms and legs. And she had some visible injuries on her neck too.”
Deputy District Attorney Mitch Miller added the victim had a cut or bruising in her shoulder blade.
Morgan said, as the victim told him, “He chased after her, dragged her back to the trailer. She then was able to calm him down enough where they were able to go get donuts and then went to sleep.”
Morgan said his report from the victim stated, “Mr. Maldonado caught up to her, grabbed her by her sweatshirt, and choked her out for approximately one to two minutes. She was unaware of the exact time, she went basically limp. That’s when he dragged her by her feet back to the trailer.”
Initially, Officer Morgan testified that there were no other physical acts that Maldonado had done to the victim, but DDA Miller insisted that the police report notes say differently.
After reviewing the report, Officer Morgan stated, “…while dragging her back to the trailer, he was kicking her and hurting her as well.” No further physical violence happened after they got back into the trailer.
Officer Morgan mentioned that Maldonado took the victim’s phone on Jan. 1 to prevent her from calling the police, adding that, as he was told, “The next morning, [the victim’s] father came to pick up the trailer so they can move into a new location. When they were moving the trailer, that’s when the incident occurred.”
He continued, “While they were going to the new location, there was a vehicle that was following them, driving erratically. And then one of the other people in the vehicle stated that it was Mr. Maldonado and he flashed a handgun.”
Assistant Public Defender Larry Yee pointed out that this statement was hearsay since the victim herself did not see the handgun. But DDA Miller argued the statement should still be admitted for the purpose of the victim’s state of mind, to which Judge Currier agreed.
The other officer searched Maldonado’s vehicle, saw a 380 caliber pistol, and made sure no bullets were in the gun. The officer also located multiple narcotic pills in Maldonado’s pocket, including Ecstasy and methamphetamine.
During cross-examination, Yee confirmed with Officer Morgan about the victim’s injuries on her body. Morgan stated that the victim told him that the bruises and scratches are all due to the argument on Jan. 1, but she did not elaborate in detail on how she got them.
Yee questioned Morgan on whether the victim argued with Maldonado on Jan. 2, which Morgan denied.
Morgan said that the victim’s mother testified that she saw Maldonado with a handgun, and the victim herself testified that Maldonado had had a handgun in the past.
The second witness, Officer Alex Vasquez, said, according to the victim’s mother, she was taking the victim to a safe place because the victim said she was getting beaten up by her boyfriend.
Vasquez said, “She stated that when they were driving, Maldonado started to follow them in a black Chevrolet. Then he subsequently pulled next to them, she observed him hold up a gun pointing it straight up in the air and stated that ‘If you leave me, I will kill you…'”
The victim’s mother reported being “terrified” and “scared” after Maldonado’s statement.
During cross-examination, Yee questioned how Officer Vasquez knew that the threat was directed at the victim but not the other passengers. Officer Vasquez simply replied that because the victim is the only one in a relationship with Maldonado.
The victim’s mother did not indicate the tone of Maldonado when he made the statement.
Public defender Yee’s closing argument requested a no holding order, especially regarding Maldonado’s statement about killing. Yee argued that the threat was not directed at the victim.
But DDA Miller argues that, based on the context of the situation, it is clear that those words were directed at the victim, adding, “When you look at the PC 422, it is when you threaten someone with great bodily injuries or a family member with great bodily injuries. I (see) Mr. Yee’s argument that the victim appears to not have the threat communicated to her, but the threat was communicated to her mother,” he said.
Miller argued that the threat was made clear by Maldonado. Even if the threat was directed at a victim’s family member, Maldonado still committed a criminal threat.
Judge Currier ruled that the defendant, for preliminary hearing purposes, committed all the charges. Judge Currier said that, even if the target of the threat was the victim, Maldonado’s statement communicated the threat to the victim’s mother.
The court considered a bail motion regarding the defendant’s previous case about possession of drugs.
Judge Currier pointed out that, based on the precedent of the recent Humphrey case regarding bail, the previous bail amount was unreasonable since it well exceeded his ability to pay.
DDA Miller disagreed with releasing Maldonado on pretrial release, and argued Maldonado was already on probation supervision before for his other case. Yet, Maldonado still committed new charges of threatening with great bodily injuries and violated the prohibition to own a handgun. Miller noted, clearly, probation supervision does not work for Maldonado, and the judge should set no bail.
The PD said Maldonado has many family members in the Sacramento area and had previously made efforts to address his drug issues, and maintained a stay away no-contact order with the victim and a GPS monitor is sufficient for Maldonado.
Judge Currier concluded that he will set no bail for both the previous case and the current case.
“If this was simply a drug case or drug sell case, the court will be lowering the bail to an amount the defendant can make…but in this case the defendant had convincing evidence that he threatened the victim with great bodily injuries. The allegation that I have heard in this preliminary hearing is that he beat Ms. Doe on one day, and the next day threatened to kill her. Also he has a firearm, which means he had the means,” said the judge.
The trial is set on May 10.
Hongyi Wen is a junior at UC Santa Cruz, majoring in Sociology. He is from Guangzhou, China.
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