Defendant’s bail reduction denied

EL CENTRO — A county Superior Court judge on Thursday denied a defense request to lower bail for the former Imperial High student accused of threatening to shoot and kill his classmates.

After hearing oral arguments on the matter, Judge Diane Altamirano ruled to have bail remain at $500,000 for Karl Manaig, who posted a bond shortly after his Feb 16 arrest.

“He continues to hold a public safety risk,” Altamirano said.

Prior to the ruling, county Deputy Public Defender Darren Bean had argued the bail amount represented a “significant upward departure” from the standard amount typically imposed for the charges Manaig is facing.

Manaig, 18, currently is facing two felony counts of threatening to commit a crime resulting in death, a charge that typically carries a standard bail amount of $25,000.

When Manaig had been booked into county jail in February he had his bail amount set at $500,000 at the request of the Imperial Police Department, which investigated the alleged crime.

During Thursday’s hearing, Senior Deputy District Attorney Kevin Cayton had argued against any reduction in the bail amount, citing Manaig’s continued risk to public safety.

Cayton also indicated to the court that Manaig’s family could have avoided any financial hardships associated with the bond amount had they elected to leave Manaig in custody.

“They didn’t have to post bail,” Cayton said.

Altamirano appeared to have concurred with Cayton’s assessment, and told Bean as much.

It was also revealed in court that negotiations between Manaig’s family and the bail bond company that posted his bond resulted in the family providing 5 percent of the bail amount, instead of the 10 percent that is typically required to post bond.

Bean had previously indicated to the court that a bail reduction was warranted since two felony counts of making criminal threats had been dropped against Manaig.

Manaig had initially faced a total of three counts of making criminal threats in connection to allegations that he threatened to shoot a classmate and two separate classrooms of students in February.

A county Superior Court judge had ruled in March to dismiss the charges associated with the alleged threats against the classrooms, since such a charge could not be brought on behalf of an “amorphous group of people.”

Yet, Judge Donal Donnelly did allow a new criminal threats charge to be filed against Manaig after Donnelly determined that the alleged threats did cause a second classmate to sustain fear.

The two felony counts Manaig currently faces are the result of two former classmates reportedly having sustained fear as a result of Maniag’s alleged threats.

He is due back in court in El Centro on Sept. 20 for another pre-trial hearing.