WOODLAND, CA – A judge here set bail at more than $150,000 at an arraignment hearing Friday in Yolo County Superior Court, despite being informed by the Deputy Public Defender of the accused’s health issues and inability to pay that amount.
The accused had two cases up for arraignment, including a felony attempted second degree robbery, with enhancements for habitual criminals and prior felony convictions.
The second case was a misdemeanor failure to appear charge. The accused also had several cases with outstanding warrants, which were recalled Friday.
Deputy Public Defender Lisa Lance noted the accused’s numerous mental and physical health issues, prior to entering not guilty pleas to all counts on behalf of the accused. DPD Lance requested for the accused to remain on supervised own recognizance release.
In response, Deputy District Attorney Martha Wais detailed the original incident, in which the accused allegedly violently threatened a woman in an attempt to commit a robbery, telling her he wouldn’t “kill anyone” if she didn’t call for help.
Using this incident, along with the accused’s warrants, which had remained outstanding for many years, DDA Wais claimed the accused was a public safety and flight risk, and could not be left on supervised OR.
DPD Lance, however, clarified that the outstanding warrants were due to the accused being in custody in San Francisco for two years, and unable to attend Yolo Court because of the accused’s incarceration.
According to DPD Lance, being out of custody would be beneficial for the accused’s health and would allow the court to get further information about the accused’s health issues.
Judge David W. Reed then reviewed the accused’s criminal history, stating the accused had multiple failures to appear over the course of four years, with this being his first appearance in court since 2021.
Citing the accused’s failure to come to court when ordered, Judge Reed decided to remand the accused to county jail because the judge was not satisfied that the accused would return to court.
Bail was set at a total of more than $150,000 for all the accused’s pending cases.
DPD Lance asked Judge Reed to reduce the bail to “a reasonable amount,” since the accused could not afford to pay such a high amount of money.
And, according to DPD Lance, the accused had shown he would appear in court because he had made a four- to five-hour drive to be in court Friday.
When asked for her opinion, DDA Wais stated she would “let the facts speak for themselves,” referring to the accused’s history of failures to appear.
Judge Reed ultimately decided that, given the accused had four years of failures to appear and had allegedly committed a violent felony, it would “not (be) appropriate to reduce his bail.”
A preliminary hearing was set, and the accused was jailed.
