WOODLAND, CA – During a pre-hearing conference Thursday at Yolo County Superior Court, Deputy Public Defender Cheyanne Martin emphasized the defense can’t move forward with the accused’s preliminary hearing because of the prosecution’s failure to send over discovery in a timely manner.
After a long argument, the judge disagreed and sent the accused back to jail to await the next hearing in 2025.
The PD argued the accused should not be penalized for delays caused by the prosecution and should be released on Supervised Own Recognizance (SOR) until the preliminary hearing, Deputy District Attorney Gustavo Figueroa asserted the accused poses a risk to public safety and should remain in custody.
The accused was present in court in custody and is charged with 10 felony counts, including possession of controlled substance/armed with weapon, possession of controlled substance for sale, carrying a loaded firearm in a public place, and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
DPD Martin underlined that a discovery request was sent to the prosecution Dec. 6, and to date she has not received any discovery—only an email discovery this morning.
“I’m not prepared to go forward with the preliminary hearing today, but also don’t believe that (accused) should be forced into a 10-day time waiver because the prosecution has not complied with their discovery obligations,” DPD Martin stated.
“These are nonviolent offenses…and so I’m asking that he be released today on SOR to come back for his preliminary hearing because I can’t be effective assistance of counsel to him without having received any discovery…and not even have time to review what was sent to me today,” she continued.
DDA Figueroa disagreed with DPD Martin’s request to release the accused, arguing the accused has already been assessed twice for SOR and was denied in both cases.
“He (accused) has a lengthy criminal history stretching back to 1998. He does have several convictions for offenses related to drug sales, transportation, to manufacturing, and in this case he was caught with…nearly half a pound of methamphetamine…he should not be released from custody based on that,” DDA Figueroa contended.
DDA Figueroa claimed that “the facts of the case are not very intensive” and asked Judge Daniel M. Wolk that the originally scheduled preliminary hearing be confirmed and the accused remain in custody.
In response, DPD Martin reiterated how she was only provided discovery approximately 20 minutes prior to the start of the hearing.
Martin said, “The People cannot call ready, they haven’t abided by their Discovery obligations and they are essentially forcing (accused) to enter a ten-day time waiver in order to have effective assistance.”
DPD Martin emphasized the best matter left in this case is to release the accused on any reasonable conditions of SOR that the court sees fit to allow time for preparation of the preliminary hearing.
“He’s charged with 10 felony counts and so he deserves to have effective assistance of counsel at his prelim, that hasn’t had something sitting in her (Martin’s) email queue for 20 minutes, despite discovery requests being sent,” DPD Martin stated.
Judge Wolk acknowledged DPD Martin’s reasoning, saying, “I think it’s fair to say that you’re not ready, Ms. Martin, and the record is clear as to why you’re not ready—I get that piece.”
Judge Wolk did not confirm the preliminary hearing and asked that this case come back later in the day, sharing that he will make a decision “solely on custody status.”
The motion for SOR release was denied later that afternoon and the accused was remanded back into custody in jail, with the bail amount set at $20,000.
A pre-hearing conference is set for Jan. 30 and the accused is ordered to appear.
