Monder Law Group - News
$1 Million Dollar Bail Set For Carmel Mountain Shooting in San Diego
Julio Riel Narvaez faces charges for a felony count of attempted murder and another felony count of assault with a firearm. Mr. Narvaez has plead not guilty. Mr. Narvaez allegedly shot a fellow employee in the head, with a .22 caliber hand gun, at his workplace in Carmel Mountain Ranch pleaded not guilty Monday. The victim was seriously injured by the gunshot wound to the head, but the shot did not kill them. Mr. Narvaez faces 25 years to life with parole for the attempted murder charge, along with additional years for the assault with a firearm charge. The shooting took place in middle of June in Carmel Mountain Ranch.
Mr. Narvaez bail has been set at an astonishing $1 million dollars. We will look at what exactly is bail? What determines the bail amount? What is a bail hearing, and what all goes into it?
The first question is what exactly is bail? Bail is an amount of money one pays to the court in order to assure that they will return for their hearings. One can do this by giving the court the amount that they request or by going to a private agent. This is what is known as a bail bondsmen. They usually will cover your bond for a 10% fee. Here, because Mr. Narvaez bail is set a one million dollars he can post the amount in full or have the bail bondsmen post it. Usually a person will put up an assist for the bail amount, such as a home. In addition, the bondsmen will keep their fee, which will 10% of one million, so $100,000 to post bail. Sometimes, if one hires an expert legal counsel right s charges stem they may be able to lower the fee or be able to avoid private bail all together and save a client money. Therefore, that is the essential of what bail is.
The next question we will address is how much is bail? Bail differs on multiple factors. The main factors being what crime is one being charged with, in what county is one being charged in. For example, gross vehicle manslaughter in San Diego County has a bail of $100,000. Where Los Angeles County may be $125,000. In this case, Mr. Narvaez faces charges for a felony count of attempted murder and another felony count of assault with a firearm. The judge applied a $1 million dollar bail amount for these separate crimes. It is a loose guide that the more serious the offense the more expensive the bail, the less serious of the offense the less expensive the bail. In some case a very serious crime has no bail. This is the case for crimes like murder and treason. Therefore, the amount one must front for bail is hard to guess because there are multiple variables that will most definitely come into play when determining the overall amount.
The last part of the bail process discussed is the bail hearing. The bail hearing is where you and your criminal defense attorney can go before the Judge and inquire about your bail. A California bail hearing essentially presents you with an opportunity to ask the court to either reduce your bail, or eliminate bail altogether by releasing you own recognizance. This can happen after an arraignment if one wishes to pursue the bail hearing. Here, Mr. Narvaez was handed his $1 million dollar bail amount at a bail hearing. Thus, a California bail hearing allows one to try to reduce their bail or have the court impose where they do not have to pay anything to get out on bail.
The next part of the bail hearing that should be analyzed is whether it is possible for one to have their bail reduced? The answer to this is yes. California bail hearing laws state that the defendant, either personally or through his or her attorney, friend, or family member, also may make application to the magistrate for release on bail lower than that provided in the schedule of bail that is, a California bail hearing or on his or her own recognizance. The magistrate or commissioner to whom the application is made is authorized to set bail in an amount that he or she deems sufficient to assure the defendant’s appearance or to assure the protection of a victim, or family member of a victim, of domestic violence, and to set bail on the terms and conditions that he or she, in his or her discretion, deems appropriate, or he or she may authorize the defendant’s release on his or her own recognizance. California Penal Code 1269c. When deciding whether to modify your bail, the Judge will consider the seriousness of the alleged crime, looking at any injuries to an alleged victim, any threats that were made to an alleged victim, if there were any weapons allegedly used, and whether any drugs were allegedly involved,
They will also look at one’s prior criminal history, their probability of appearing for future court appearances, and, most importantly, public safety.
Here, with regard to Mr. Narvaez alleged acts it will look as if the Judge in the bail hearing more than likely made the right call by not lowering his overall bail amount. The alleged offense is attempted murder. The only possible way it could be more serious of an offense is if it was murdered. Because the alleged offense is attempted murder the overall seriousness is extremely high. In addition, the bail hearing Judge will look at the injures the alleged victim has suffered based off of Mr. Narvaez actions. Because the alleged victim was shot in the face and was in critical condition at the hospital this too is also very serious. Moreover, the Judge will look to see if there was a threat that was present. The wording is not specifically clear but based off of Mr. Narvaez’s actions there is possibly a threat on another’s life. Also, Mr. Narvaez did use a weapon. Mr. Narvaez used the .22 caliber handgun that he had at his work station on the alleged victim. However, there is no report of drugs being present, involved or used during this incident which the bail hearing Judge would also look into. This will all go against lowering the bail for Mr. Narvaez, and because these factors are so heavily against him the bail would most likely be pretty costly.
The next thing the bail hearing Judge will look at is Mr. Narvaez past criminal record. The report has aid the Mr. Narvaez has no previous criminal record. This will fall in favor of Mr. Narvaez because it shows that he does not have a habit of breaking the laws and not abiding by them. In addition, because Mr. Narvaez has a lack of criminal record there would be no negative showing of him skipping on bail or not showing up on court dates as he is supposed to. Thus, this part of the bail hearing consideration should fall in favor of Mr. Narvaez.
The last and said to be the most important is the public safety factor. Mr. Narvaez allegedly tried to kill someone by shooting them in the head, this will not be a good factor for him. Because of the public safety concern Mr. Narvaez bail will probably not be lowered.
Thus, doing the reasonable thing and taking in all of the facts and circumstances it is very unlikely that Mr. Narvaez bail would be lowered based off of the alleged actions.
However, the judge also does have the discreation to raise ones bail. If one is seeking a bail reduction, the prosecutor may highlight information about which the court was otherwise unaware such as a probation violation or parole violation.
There is also releasing on own recognizance In lieu of posting bail, you may ask the judge to release you on your own recognizance more commonly referred to as an O.R. release. As long as you are not charged with a California criminal offense that is punishable by death, you are entitled to an O.R. release unless such a release will compromise public safety, or will not reasonably ensure your appearance for future court proceedings. California Penal Code 1270. As discussed above that is extremely unlikely to happen in this specific situation.
In conclusion, bail and bail hearings are pretty complex, there are multiple factors and a fair amount of judicial discretion that can be present.
If you have questions about the criminal process in San Diego, feel free to contact San Diego Criminal Lawyer Vik Monder at 619-405-0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Defense Attorney
