WOODLAND, CA – Deputy Public Defender Stephen Betz’s motion to reduce his client’s charges from felony to misdemeanor because of the accused’s mental state and unhoused status were opposed by the prosecution and denied by Judge Daniel Wolk in Yolo County Superior Court Monday afternoon.
The accused remains in jail on $50,000 bail after the preliminary hearing.
In October 2022 at Pacific Motel in West Sacramento, Police Officer Nolan Nagle testified he was called to apprehend a trespasser—the accused. When Nagle arrived, he said, the accused was seated on the front stoop of the motel rambling that she had been a victim of a crime and someone’s throat had been slit.
Minutes later, Officer Nagle and another officer arrested the accused for carrying “a dirk and dagger” (according to court records) concealed on her person.
Officer Nagle was one of Deputy District Attorney David Robbins’ witnesses to take the stand Monday, explaining he “did not immediately see the weapon” —a “13-14 inch weapon…(its) blade eight inches long” —which had been located in the accused’s “front pants pocket…completely concealed.”
To “refresh” Nagle’s memory before DPD Betz’s cross-examination, body-cam footage from the incident was played in the court, where the accused clearly stated she “just got robbed with wallet.”
Officer Nagle stated he remembered the accused “saying something like someone had their throat cut” and had expressed she was a victim of a crime, but upon further inspection of the area and questioning those in the surrounding area no crime seemed to have occurred.
After further questioning by DPD Betz, Nagle acknowledged he, as well as another deputy, had openly expressed their opinions that the accused had mental health issues based on other past experiences, one of which involved the accused, a man, and a frying pan.
Nagle additionally apprehended the accused on a separate occasion with an array of other items, one of them being a dog. Officer Nagle agreed with DPD Betz these items “suggested she was unhoused.”
Brent Dawson, a Yolo County investigator and DDA Robbin’s second witness, explained the 9-1-1 call and the caller’s description of the scene from just 15 feet away: a “female holding steak knife arguing with manager and other person…couldn’t provide description…swinging knife toward manager and other person…three feet away.”
During DPD Betz’s cross-examination, Dawson later acknowledged the 9-1-1 caller “had the impression that the woman was trying to keep people away from her…wasn’t trying to harm anyone…wasn’t thinking clearly and she believed someone was trying to hurt her.”
During the argument phase of the preliminary hearing, DPD Betz stressed to the court his client “was not doing anything with the knife when officers arrived…(she was only) trying to keep people away from her (with the knife)…(even the 9-1-1 caller) was concerned for her safety.”
DPD Betz argued the accused’s “unhoused” and “unwell” status was a “mitigating factor notwithstanding any record she has,” explaining that it “isn’t uncommon that when someone is unhoused they’ll have a weapon to defend themselves.”
DPD Betz concluded he wanted the jury to acknowledge his client’s “2nd Amendment rights” and have the charges reduced to a misdemeanor level, not the felony level.
DDA Robbins responded with a detailed list of the accused’s criminal history: 2014 convicted for domestic violence—stemming from a stabbing; 2016 assault with a deadly weapon—from stabbing; and 2021 convicted of strike offense—due to a stabbing.
DDA Robbins stressed all of the accused’s prior offenses involved knives, “a large hunting knife” and during the event in question “there was no evidence that her person was in peril,” and with a “history of stabbing people” it’s “not appropriate to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor.”
DPD Betz argued that “they sell these knives, so they are legal to purchase,” implying her actions were legal.
Ultimately the court found the “offense in Count 1 of complaint to be committed (and) with sufficient cause,” and denied the motion to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor.
The judge stated, “The court has concerns concerning criminal record…all involve using a knife and forms a strike in this case, recent strike from 2021, assault with a deadly weapon that coupled with … aggravating circumstances considering (accused’s) behavior in this instance the court…warrants keeping it as a felony, I do… sympathize…about mental health and unhoused issues.”
Judge Wolk then set the arraignment and possible trial setting for Sept. 23.
