By Britney Cao and Daniella Duenas
WOODLAND, CA – In Yolo County Superior Court this week, a man—not identified by The Vanguard to protect the identity of the victim—awaited the hearing of his arraignment for a felony and two misdemeanors including threats to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury, battery and resisting arrest.
The accused pleaded not guilty, and Deputy Public Defender Danielle Craig noted to the court that the accused “has no criminal charges as outlined in the probation report. The reason probation was hesitant to grant SOR (own recognizance, no bail release) is based on the claim he does not have a plan for where he will go given that his physical address is the same address that is shared with the complaining witness.”
Craig argued that with a one on the risk score and with no previous criminal convictions, SOR would be a reasonable and appropriate possibility, suggesting since the complaining witness was the accused’s mother and not a stranger there was “more to the story there.”
Deputy District Attorney Deanna Lynn Hays said her office provided a “no harassing contact order from the complaining witness” and that the witness, who is the accused’s mother, was in court to issue a statement.
“This is a mental health situation,” the accused’s mother urged, “I would like him released so I can help facilitate getting him back to his medical doctor. They were recently changed, I think that was part of the problem.”
Despite the DDA’s request to have a harassing and no contact criminal protective order set in place, the accused’s mother said that if her son were released pretrial, she would grant consent for him to stay at her house.
She added she was not opposed to her son wearing a GPS device as she expressed her concern that he often leaves the house at very early hours.
The DDA read aloud a letter written by the accused’s aunt that claimed he is a “schizophrenic, bipolar, gambling addict, and has a history of substance abuse,” adding the accused is living with his other aunt, who is a recovering addict with health issues, noting the police have been called numerous times in recent years because the accused presented a danger to his aunt.
The aunt wrote that earlier that Sunday morning, the accused made threats to his mother, and was taken to jail, and she concluded, the accused “is on several medications which he reportedly stopped taking last week. We firmly believe that he should be sent to a rehab program and then be placed in a group home.”
The judge decided to offer SOR to the accused, noting, “His circumstances have changed since he was interviewed by probation.” However, probation will now expect the man to report to them.
The accused accepted SOR and was also served with a criminal protective order that would allow contact with his mother as long as it was not deemed harassing, threatening or annoying.
The next hearing was scheduled for Nov. 2.
