By Simran Chahal
WOODLAND, CA – A Yolo County Superior Court judge heard a bail motion regarding a man here this week, and although the judge turned down bail he considered releasing the man to a drug treatment facility—except the court was told there was a long waiting list for the facility.
As a result, Augustin Reyes remains in custody, charged with multiple counts of “inflicting corporal injury on spouse/cohabitant” and “assault likely to produce great bodily injury” from August.
Deputy Public Defender Jose Adan Gonzalez-Vasquez started the hearing with a bail motion, suggested bail of $50,000, noting “after speaking with (Reyes) and his family, it sounds like the amount of bail that he would be able to pay is $50,000.”
Gonzalez-Vasquez added, Reyes “does not have any previous arrests on his criminal history. This is the only one. We tried earnestly to get him into treatment, but he was rejected…because he was an out-of-county resident.”
“If he got released, he would go to San Jose. The victim in this case is local to this area. There is a criminal protective order, a no-contact order, and a civil DVRO (domestic violence restraining order) in place. Mr. Reyes will not have any contact with the victim and Mr. Reyes, upon release, intends to seek out drug treatment in Santa Clara County,” argued Gonzalez.
Deputy District Attorney Amanda Zambor argued against any bail as she outlined the details of the case for the judge, adding “he does not have any criminal history, but the conduct, in this case, is serious.
“The victim was sleeping. The defendant had been using crystal and he became paranoid. She was asleep and he hit her in the head one time with a closed fist…the victim asked why he hit her and he said he did not know what happened,” commented DDA Zambor.
DDA Zambor argued, “The victim fell back asleep until the defendant was lunging at her with a pair of kitchen scissors and he stabbed her on the cheek and her left arm. She started screaming and ran for help.”
The prosecutor focused on the seriousness of the nature of the injuries, explaining the victim had “injuries to her cheek, one and a half-inch long cut and inner cheek flesh was visible. Her left triceps were cut as well with the inner flesh showing.”
The defendant’s response was that “he fell asleep and he did not know what happened,” added DDA Zambor.
Midway through Zambor’s argument Judge Peter Williams quickly denied the bail motion because of “the serious allegations, and discussed the possibility of getting Reyes a spot in a treatment facility.
“It’s not going to happen,” expressed Gonzalez, “because he is not a Yolo County resident. It’s not going to happen here.”
The judge added, “Well, we have worked that out before.”
Gonzalez responded that this was the information he had thus far.
“It’s not going to happen here. He does not have Medi-Cal. In order for him to get treatment, first, he would have to get onto Medi-Cal, and then he would have to get in line… As far as I know, there are 15 people ahead of him,” Gonzalez explained.
Gonzalez said the best chance Reyes has is to get treatment in Santa Clara County and “we are still working that out.” Gonzalez also discussed the possibilities of a resolution
Judge Williams stated, “I’m all for trying to work something out. If we are to release him with no plan, it’s not going to work. There’s gotta be some supervision from point A to point B.”
The judge gave the attorneys two weeks to figure out the issues with the diversion program.
Before closing, DDA Zambor commented, “Just so the record is clear, he was not rejected from [the treatment program] because he was an out-of-county resident. Probation found that there was no nexus between the crime and the addiction.”
Gonzalez argued back, “I don’t agree with that. I have heard three different reasons as to why he was rejected…So, I actually think the entire thing became a meth fiasco.”
“Perhaps we can get that straightened out too in two weeks. It would be nice to have consistent information. This is not something that even the two attorneys on different sides ought to be arguing over. These are the facts,” said Judge Williams.
The next pre-hearing is scheduled for Nov. 22.
