By Citlalli Florez
WOODLAND, CA – The accused in Yolo County Superior Court was charged this week with alleged possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of paraphernalia used to inject or smoke—the defense argued they were victimless crimes, but the judge still incarcerated the accused.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.
An interpreter was required for the case. Post Release Community Supervision was preliminarily revoked before the hearing, although the defense asked for the release of the accused on Supervised Own Recognizance. That didn’t happen.
The Deputy Public Defender was Richard Van Zandt. The Deputy District Attorney was Jose Figueroa.
The presiding Judge was David E. Power, who said a probation bench warrant was issued on Nov. 29 for failure to report. The bail had been set for $25,000.
DDA Figueroa told the court, “My position, your honor, is that he is on PRCS. He has had multiple violations of his PRCS. Based on his history of his non-compliance with his Post Release Community Supervision, I would be opposed to his release at this time.”
The judge agreed, and set the bail for $10,000.
DPD Van Zandt rebutted, “I think Mr. Figueroa articulated that (the accused) was a public safety threat. These are low-level violations with no victim. Even the probation violation back in October was non-violent and involved no victim.”
DPD Van Zandt continued, “So perhaps he could benefit from supervision in the community SOR which is a little less strenuous than PRCS. He shouldn’t be occupying a bed at the Yolo County Jail and using government resources when those resources can be better allocated supervising [the accused] in the community.”
Judge Power didn’t agree, instead noting, “I am going to set bail. He has been supervised in the community. He has been substantially supervised in the community and he fails to comply with the supervision. In the felony case, bail is set at $10,000 and in the misdemeanor case bail is set at $1,000.”
The accused is currently in custody. The next court date for trial readiness will take place on Jan. 31. The trial is Feb. 7.
