By Ramneet Singh
WOODLAND, CA – Yolo County Superior Court Judge Daniel Wolk this week insisted on leveling $106,000 bail in cases involving a homeless man, despite Deputy Public Defender Jose Gonzales’ statement of the man’s struggle with homelessness and inability to pay any amount.
Judge Wolk noted the three cases were set for arraignment, one felony burglary from Feb. 2 and two misdemeanor cases. Court records show that one misdemeanor case is shoplifting from August 2022 and the other is petty theft from October 2022.
Judge Wolk also noted two misdemeanor cases listed under violation of probation arraignments. The record shows one involving possession of a controlled substance as the first charge from February 24 and the other involved second-degree burglary as the first charge from October 2022.
The court calendar also shows a misdemeanor assault case set for FYI, but Judge Wolk did not address that.
DPD Gonzales stated his client pleaded not guilty to all the counts and asked “with regard to the declarations, I would ask that they trail the new complaints.”
DPD Gonzales added, he’d met his client “before, he is experiencing chronic homelessness…I would ask the court to set a reasonable bail.”
Judge Wolk discussed the bail amount. Deputy District Attorney Martha Wais corrected him on the felony due to there being a strike
After being asked a question about bail from Judge Wolk, DPD Gonzales submitted, noting “the reality is any amount of bail (his client) is…unattainable.”
Judge Wolk understood the accused’s inability to pay, explaining that “considering the number of cases involved here, considering the SOR report that I read in the new felony case…in which it’s shown the defendant has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 1996 with numerous misdemeanor and felony convictions.”
Judge Wolk noted the accused was high risk, citing the probable cause report. He noted a $100,000 bail for the felony burglary, $1,000 for each of the new misdemeanors, and $2,000 for the violation of probation cases.
DPD Gonzales did not waive time on the felony, but did do so on the new misdemeanors, asking “that they trail the felony.”
Judge Wolk put the felony case on Feb. 21 for a pre-hearing conference/preliminary hearing. The new misdemeanors were set for pretrial conference. The violation of probation cases are set for admit or deny.
