By Destiny Gurrola
VENTURA, CA – A man who said he recently experienced the death of his father, sister and niece and missed his felony and misdemeanor court dates because of that was nonetheless held on $51,000 bail for failure to appear here in Ventura County Superior Court by order of Judge Patricia Murphy.
The accused appeared before court and his defense attorney explained the accused “indicated on the 18th his father had passed away and on the 19th his sister and niece had passed away. Which I believe was right before his failure to appear on the 20th. He indicated that that took him into a depressive cycle.”
Upon this explanation, the defense attorney asked for his client to be released on his own recognizance or for there to be a reduction in his bail.
Judge Murphy expressed her concerns, but stated, “Unfortunately, he has a significant history of failing to appear before then, which causes me some concern. If you have some proof of those events happening I will reconsider.”
Bail for the felony charge was set at $50,000 and bail for the misdemeanor charge was set at $1,000.
The accused was set to return to court May 10 for a preliminary hearing.
