Following up on the previous post's mention of crime and (lack of) consequences, this:
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‘cause i’m sure they’ll be back
Defendants Jose Zendejas, 25, and Benito Madrigal, 19 — released on their own recognizance less than 24 hours after their arrests with the large stash of illicit drugs — were scheduled to appear for their arraignments at the Tulare County Courthouse in central California on Thursday morning, but both men failed to show.
Their bail was first set at $1 million based on the quantity of drugs seized, but the county probation department’s risk assessment submitted to the county superior court classified the men as "low risk," and they both were subsequently released on their own recognizance, Visalia Times Delta reported.
Both the Sheriff and the DA say they were not notified of the pending release:
Although there is a need for a pre-trial release program, to do it covertly in the middle of the night in a very nontransparent matter is extremely dangerous," Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward told Fox News
I smell a rat here. Who in the probation department, for instance, classified these two as “low risk”, and who arranged for them to be released “covertly in the middle of the night”? For that matter, did the DA’s office really have no notice of what was going down?
However it happened, California’s justice system is a mess.
UPDATE: Another shocker: California murderer who’d been released after serving five years of a 50-to-life sentence arrested again for drugs, gun possession, and wearing facial tattoos. (Okay, I added that last crime, but still ….)
LA District Attorney George Gascon’s staff expressed his dismay at the news:
We are disappointed to learn that Mr. Cachu has not availed himself of the support that he so clearly needs.”
“We are frustrated to see that he is struggling,” the office said.