By Veronica Miller
WOODLAND, CA – The accused faced his preliminary hearing late last week in Yolo County Superior Court for felony charges of driving under the influence within 10 years of a previous felony and misdemeanor driving with a suspended license.
The accused has had seven previous DUIs, charged the prosecution. Because of that, the accused will be held on no bail in custody until at least his next hearing April 21.
Deputy Public Defender Richard Van Zandt pushed for the accused’s bail to be lowered or for him to be released on no bail. The accused’s bail is currently set at $50,000 which Van Zandt states is too high for the accused to be able to post bail. He is asking for his bail to be lowered to $25,000.
Both Judge Timothy Fall and Deputy District Attorney Alex Kian were against this idea. Kian offered the solution of using an alcohol monitoring SCRAM device.
Van Zandt is pushing for this lowered bail because the accused would like to work his 40 hour a week job. But Kian argued the accused is a public safety risk because of his previous seven DUIs.
A SCRAM device is an ankle monitor that can detect when a person has been consuming alcohol. Kian offered this as a solution to be able to help in the main issue of the accused consuming alcohol and driving.
Judge Fall stated that the accused will be held on no bail, noting there is nothing to make sure that he will not consume alcohol.
Judge Fall also found the accused is a public safety risk, especially since his license has been suspended multiple times, yet he still drives. The judge said he believes that by keeping the accused locked up, it will be the safest for the accused and the community.
