Judge detains murder suspect under no-bail-hold amendment
She cites felon’s ‘poor history’ in decision
A district judge this past week chose to hold without bail a man accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend, according to court documents.
Judge Briana Zamora wrote in an order Tuesday that a criminal complaint against 32-year-old Scott Wade Bachicha “presents a genuine question as to whether this death was accidental.” Alternately, testimony a detective offered during hearings on Monday and a week ago, combined with other exhibits, Zamora said, suggested the shooting was intentional.
According to police, Bachicha shot and killed Mindy Stuart, 30, at the couple’s home on Madeira NE. The criminal complaint says Bachicha was “messing around with his shotgun,” when it “suddenly discharged” and hit Stuart. During the detention hearing, divided across two days, detective Andrea Ortiz testified that Stuart was shot on the right side of her neck, Zamora said. At least two witnesses reported hearing screaming or arguing at the home.
Zamora wrote in her order that the state did not offer facts to support a probable cause finding on the first-degree murder charge, but said evidence presented at the detention hearing supported a second-degree murder charge.
Raymond Maestas, Bachicha’s defense attorney, said in a statement that Zamora’s finding about probable cause applies only to the detention hearing. He said Ortiz, whom he called to testify, said in the hearing that “she has no specific evidence that this was a planned, calculated killing” nor that the shooting “was the result of careful thought.” He said the defense will ask the grand jury to consider that testimony.
The District Attorney’s Office, in a statement, said the significance of Zamora’s probable cause finding was unclear but “concerning.” The statement said that Bachicha’s “is a pretty clear case” for probable cause and detention.
Zamora’s finding comes as the state court system is adjusting to a new constitutional amendment that allows violent defendants to be held without bail pending trial. But Zamora said in her order that the state attempted to hold Bachicha under an older constitutional provision that allows bail to be denied to defendants facing a capital offense “when the proof is evident and the presumption great.”
She said she would not consider the state’s request to hold Bachicha under that provision because the state did not show sufficient facts to support a probable cause finding on a first-degree murder charge.
Instead, Zamora detained Bachicha under the new amendment, finding that other conditions of release would not ensure community safety.
Zamora cited Bachicha’s “poor history” on court-ordered supervision in ordering that he be held without bail pending trial. She also noted that the felon was not legally allowed to have a gun, and that Bachicha has been charged in three prior domestic violence cases involving Stuart and has five times been issued warrants for failing to appear in court.