WOODLAND, Calif. — A Yolo County Superior Court judge set bail at $50,000 for an accused man facing a new felony auto theft charge, despite defense objections and arguments that supervised release was appropriate under recent California Supreme Court precedent.
The accused appeared in custody Wednesday facing charges of felony theft of an automotive vehicle and committing crimes while on release. They currently have other pending cases similar to this matter.
The court appointed Deputy Public Defender Jose Gonzalez to represent the accused. DPD Gonzalez requested that the accused be released on supervised own recognizance, or SOR, arguing that the charges the accused was facing did not warrant detention during judicial processing.
DPD Gonzalez acknowledged that there was no SOR report published by the Yolo County Probation Department for the charges being arraigned, but cited previous SOR reports highlighting the accused’s economic status.
Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Palumbo argued against the accused’s release. She stated that the accused had been convicted of stealing six automobiles since 2023. She also noted that the accused had been released from court five days earlier on SOR and had since picked up a new offense.
“There are no less restrictive means this court could impose to stop him from stealing cars,” said DDA Palumbo. “We know he is going to continue the behavior because he is continuing to steal cars.”
She concluded by proposing that bail be set according to the schedule to protect public safety.
DDA Palumbo argued that the accused could not be as destitute as the SOR report suggested because he was observed to be a frequent fentanyl user, reasoning that he must have some source of income to pay for his expensive habit.
Judge Dannette C. Brown debated lowering the bail, clarifying that she was required to set a reasonably attainable bail, not easily or conveniently attainable bail, to comply with In re Kowalczyk, a 2026 case in which the California Supreme Court ruled that requiring an unaffordable bail is equivalent to not being given bail.
In re Kowalczyk says that bail cannot be set so high that it is deliberately used to keep someone detained with no recourse; it must be reasonably payable, which is not to say that it must be convenient. According to In re Kowalczyk, the accused is responsible for proving they cannot reasonably pay their bond.
Judge Brown ultimately set the accused’s bond at $50,000, stating that if the accused could not reasonably afford the bond, it was his burden to prove he was unable to pay.
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