By Kianna Anvari
SACRAMENTO — In a Sacramento County Superior Courtroom that hears strictly domestic violence cases, a man is being held for three misdemeanor charges: one count of vandalism and two counts of resisting arrest.
But it was “domestic violence related,” promised Deputy District Attorney Anissa Galata.
Returning on a bench warrant from Monday, Dec. 7, Alvin Brown appeared in court, in custody.
After meeting in a breakout room with her client, Assistant Public Defender Rayla Freshwater asked the court to release Brown on his own recognizance or to reduce his bail to a reasonable amount, which she suggested be $0 according to the current COVID-19 emergency schedule.
Freshwater shared that Brown has lived in Sacramento for 18 years and has family nearby. He has worked for a moving company for the last five years and is a student at a local community college.
As far as his failures to appear, Freshwater argued that Brown was confused about his court dates over the summer because of the coronavirus.
Freshwater added that Brown has a place to stay that is not with the domestic violence alleged victim. Freshwater told the court that she does not think Brown is a danger to society.
DDA Galata objected and asked for bail to remain set at $10,500 for each count. She added that one of his failures to appear was from 2017.
Galata read her reports from February and May to prove that Brown is a flight risk. She claimed that in February, officers responded to a report that a male and female were in a verbal argument with each other.
The officers said that the male, Brown, had the odor of alcohol on his breath and bloodshot eyes. Brown was allegedly exhibiting irate behavior by yelling and crying. The officers advised Brown that he would be arrested for public intoxication and tried grabbing his hands, but he pulled away.
In May, the victim reported that she and Brown were fighting over marijuana. She claimed that Brown kicked down her door and broke items in her house. Brown allegedly pushed the victim to the ground but there were no injuries reported.
Law enforcement later went to Brown’s house to arrest him. The officers claimed that he pulled away when they attempted to arrest him, and that he pushed against the police car trying to get away.
Judge Scott Tedmon stated that the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) report recommended detention, despite the fact that they are misdemeanor charges.
PSA is an algorithmic pretrial risk assessment that judges can use when deciding whether a defendant should be released before trial.
Judge Tedmon reset Brown’s bail to an aggregate of $20,000. Further proceedings for Brown will resume on Monday, Dec. 21.
Kianna Anvari will earn a Master’s in Public Administration from San Diego State University in May 2021. She is from San Diego.
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