By Taylor Smith
WOODLAND, CA – Despite 11 open cases against him, the accused was absent in Yolo County Superior Court Friday morning, with a warrant out for him after violating his pretrial release—turns out he’s in the hospital with serious injuries.
His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Monica Brushia, informed the court that he recently jumped off of the overpass on Watt Avenue onto I-80 and is currently in the trauma unit at the hospital.
Judge Peter Williams appeared to be frustrated with this hearing, upon bringing it forward.
“He has a whole bunch of cases! All on for review,” he said about the accused’s plethora of cases to be dealt with.
“In April after treatment, certified as competent, he was released on SOR (supervised release), but then absconded after serving two days in Sacramento County Jail. SOR was revoked last week and a warrant was issued, which is where we are now,” said the judge.
DPD Brushia confirmed that her client was released from Sacramento County Jail.
The DPD explained, “He should not have been released from Sacramento County. I don’t believe that case was 
resolved. I believe he was just (released with no bail conditions) by the court…he suffers from mental illness. Within a week, he jumped off of the overpass on Watt Avenue onto I-80. He is in the hospital in the trauma unit. He has had multiple surgeries already,” she said.
She added the accused was in line for Yolo County’s mental health court, but they couldn’t move him because of his hold in Sacramento County, noting, “The only thing I want to do right now is continue the matter. Will you continue the matter, maybe two or three months until we get a status on how he is doing?” she asked the judge.
Brushia continued by fiercely advocating for dismissal of all cases against the accused in light of the severity of his injuries and mental illness, declaring that she will likely be writing a motion for it herself if the judge did not agree.
Judge Williams did not seem eager to comply with her requests. He looked to Deputy District Attorney Jose Gustavo Figueroa for input, who agreed with Brushia that a two-month continuation would suffice for this case.
Brushia quickly interjected that the warrant be recalled as well, explaining, “the last thing the hospital needs to worry about is him being picked up on a warrant.”
“I guess maybe their concern is going to be, of course, ‘how are we going to get him from the hospital to here?’” Judge Williams said. The PD insisted the accused will absolutely not be moving from the hospital.
The court ruled this will not be a concern until at least two months from now, when the accused has begun his recovery process and is able to be transported. Brushia recommended that someone from probation be sent to the hospital to retrieve him at that point.
After noting this will only be the case if the accused survived, the DPD clarified doctors are indicating that he will live, but that his recovery is expected to take at least a year.
Judge Williams ultimately agreed to recall the warrant on the premise that they know the whereabouts of the accused and understand that he will have little to no physical capability to commit more crimes until his next hearing.
So long as the accused is alive and sufficiently mobile or transportable, he will be in court for review on Sept. 22 of this year.
