SANTA BARBARA, CA – A woman struggling with addiction will remain in custody on a felony shoplifting charge with prior convictions and two misdemeanor drug offenses after a continued arraignment and bail review hearing Friday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
In the hearing before Judge Thomas R. Adams, the accused, who appeared in custody, was charged with allegedly committing a new shoplifting offense after prior theft convictions.
She also faces misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Deputy Public Defender Shayna Eden Smith represented the accused, while Deputy District Attorney Justin Greene appeared for the People.
According to the complaint filed on Nov. 13, the accused was arrested two days earlier after store employees at a State Street retailer reported that she attempted to leave with merchandise concealed in a bag.
Officers also allegedly located a small quantity of a controlled substance and a glass pipe during a search incident to arrest.
At Friday’s hearing, the focus shifted to whether the accused should remain in custody or be released with conditions.
The prosecution emphasized the accused’s history of theft-related convictions, noting that the new felony charge is specifically enhanced because the accused has “previous theft priors.”
DDA Greene argued that the pattern of repeat conduct “raises concerns about continued noncompliance and community safety,” and requested that bail remain in place.
Defense counsel countered that the accused has long-standing substance use issues and argued that the conduct is “low-level, non-violent” and stems from untreated addiction.
DPD Smith asked the court to consider releasing her to a treatment-oriented pretrial program, stating that “continued incarceration will only worsen the underlying issues driving these cases.”
Smith also noted that the accused has struggled with housing instability, and that her multiple aliases reflected “old identifiers tied to unstable periods of her life,” not deliberate evasion.
Judge Adams ultimately continued the arraignment to Nov. 24, when Judge Stephen Foley will preside over both the preliminary hearing setting and an updated review of release conditions.
The court left the accused’s current custody status unchanged and bail in place, but ordered Pretrial Services to evaluate her for treatment-based supervision options before the next hearing.
The case remains active, with the preliminary hearing set for Dec. 2 at 8:30 a.m.
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