By Ankita Joshi
SACRAMENTO – Under new bail laws, more defendants awaiting trial could be released on lower or no bail. But not all defendants.
Defendant Troy Ransom, who appeared in Sacramento County Superior Court Monday on a request for lower bail under the Affordable Bail Act, is a case in point.
Ransom, according to the prosecution, has missed previous court dates, and had a continuously violent history with the alleged victim which was used to determine that Ransom was not only a flight risk, but a danger to the public and the victim.
Ransom is facing three felonies, include domestic abuse, causing great bodily injury and threats.
Assistant Public Defender Alicia Hartley relayed that Ransom had not been employed for months because of his time in custody, and could not afford to pay the current $50,500 bail amount.
Judge Scott L. Tedmon relayed that each bail evaluation involves an individualized consideration of the defendant in regard to the safety of the public and the victim’s previous criminal history and record, compliance of court orders, and the likelihood that the defendant will appear at future dates, rather than just the financial status of the defendant.
Judge Tedmon also noted that Ransom already had two failures to appear on his current case, which would also be included in the consideration of lowering bail.
At this prompt, Deputy District Attorney Jenna Saavedra began to read through some of the issues of the case that were of concern to her.
To start, the DDA argued, Ransom had 16 prior bench warrants, dating back to 1991. And 12 of those bench warrants were from 2014 or more recent, which helped establish a pattern for a flight risk.
DDA Saavedra continued reading some of the more concerning parts of Ransom’s file, including statements from the victim who had filed three separate incidents against Ransom over the last year.
On June 24, 2020, the victim and the defendant were at the laundromat, the DDA said, when the defendant became angry at the victim, and started hitting her repeatedly in the head, face, and all over her body.
This continued as they walked back to their homeless camp, which was when the defendant pushed the victim down, got on top of her, and began strangling her with both hands.
The victim stated that the defendant then told her if she dies, it’s her own fault. The defendant continued to strangle her for several seconds, even after the victim asked him to stop and relayed that she couldn’t breathe.
After he was finished strangling her, the defendant allegedly stated that “if he goes to prison, he will get out and do the same type of thing to her he is doing now,” and continued to punch her with a closed fist all over the head and body.
Witnesses affirmed that they saw the defendant grabbing the victim’s neck, and the victim had “three elongated contusions on the side of her neck.”
At this point, DDA Saavedra noted that the defendant was still on post-release community supervision, and was the subject of a restraining order in which the current victim was a protected party.
The second incident that was noted occurred on February 1, when the defendant was on failure to appear status. The victim indicated in her statement that the defendant was harassing her and would not leave her alone. He continuously yelled, cursed, and threatened to assault and kill her.
The defendant then allegedly took a stick out of the fire at their homeless camp and threatened to brand the victim, which he was attempting to do until other homeless individuals present at the camp began yelling at the defendant.
During this incident, claimed the DDA, the defendant had also trashed the victim’s camp, threw her belongings everywhere, grabbed her by the front of the shirt, pushed her around, hit her several times, and grabbed her around the throat and attempted to strangle her again.
He only stopped when he heard that the police were called, said the victim. As the defendant moved away from the victim, he yelled, “Now that the police are coming, [I’m] going to come back and kill [you].”
Police officers at the scene found methamphetamine in the defendant’s pocket, and also noted that the victim had red marks on her throat and upper chest area.
In her statements, the victim relayed that she is “scared because the defendant always terrorizes her and always beats her up,” and she knows that he will hurt her again.
The third and final incident cited by DDA Saavedra occurred on Dec. 15, 2020, in which the victim called the police on the defendant after he began yelling at her for no reason after severely beating her up.
The defendant was yelling at the victim “because she was crying because she was in so much pain from him kicking her in the back at around 6 a.m. that morning.”
Not only had the defendant kicked her repeatedly, but he had “punched her with a closed fist in the chin, strangled her with his hands around her throat,” and caused the victim to pass out earlier in the day, said the prosecution.
DDA Saavedra concluded reading from the defendant’s file by stating that the victim had reported that he had beaten her 200 times in the past, and that she is scared he is going to do so again.
The only response to all these statements by the defense was that the defendant denies all charges and allegations made against him in this case.
Judge Tedmon decided that there was “clear and convincing evidence” in both the risk of flight and danger to the community and victim to deny the request to reduce bail in each of the three cases Ransom was present for.
Ankita Joshi is a second-year student at the University of San Francisco, pursuing a major in International Studies and a minor in Political Science. She is originally from Sacramento, CA.
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