By Samuel Van Blaricom
DUBLIN, CA – After hearing argument from Deputy District Attorney Brooke Perkins and Assistant Public Defender Brian Kazmin, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Colwell ruled Donald Dorn, in custody and accused of assault with a deadly weapon as well as the unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle, will be held at a $30,000 bail.
PD Kazmin entered a non-guilty plea and denied all allegations on behalf of Dorn.
The bail motion, presented by PD Kazmin, relied on three main points: Dorn is 57, has not been convicted of a misdemeanor since 2002 or a felony since 1996, and the machete used in the alleged assault was dulled.
“While Mr. Dorn is charged with (assault with a deadly weapon), to wit, machete, it looks like … it was actually a dull-bladed machete. So it was not a machete that was used to inflict any kind of stabbing or cutting,” Kazmin argued.
DDA Perkins countered this argument by pointing out that “the defendant, nevertheless, was attacking someone with a machete.”
Emphasizing the gap in criminal history, PD Kazmin noted this incident is not indicative of Dorn being a threat to public safety.
“I do think that it appears that the conduct in this case is isolated, given Mr. Dorn’s extensive time that he has been free from any criminal convictions,” said the PD, adding that although Dorn has had trouble with homelessness, his parents live nearby and there was an agreement he would stay with them during the case proceedings.
“He does experience homelessness, but he does also have elderly parents in the area that he is close to and has informed me that he would be able to stay with them should the court release him ,” PD Kazmin explained.
DDA Perkins refuted these points as well, pointing out Dorn’s failures to appear in court and the fact that he has not been convicted in the last two decades does not mean that he has not been charged.
“I do think that the defendant poses a risk to community safety. He has 10 failures to appear in county…he also has more recent arrests in county, but those led to cases eventually being dismissed. They did include domestic violence arrests as well as a burglary arrest,” she said.
By the end, Judge Colwell had decided that the bail amount would not change from the originally set $30,000.
The next court date, a pre-trial hearing, is scheduled for Dec. 3.
Then by all means he shouldn’t be charged. LMAO