EX-UFC fighter Cain Velasquez is denied bail
Judge calls his alleged actions against accused molester `reckless'
SAN JOSE >> Former San Jose-based mixed martial arts champion Cain Velasquez was denied bail by a judge March 7, keeping him in jail for the foreseeable future as he fights an attempted murder charge alleging he tried to shoot and kill a man accused of molesting his child relative.
In a heated San Jose courtroom packed by dozens of Velasquez supporters, prosecutor Aaron French and high-profile celebrity attorney Mark Geragos sparred over whether the two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder could be safely released with high money bail and electronic monitoring.
French stressed that the criminal charges allege that Velasquez followed then chased 43-year-old Harry Goularte and his parents from San Martin through Morgan Hill before shooting at them in South San Jose on Feb. 28. Goularte was granted supervised release three days earlier after he was charged with molesting a close child relative of Velasquez at a San Martin day care.
“It is pure luck that the three people traveling in that vehicle were not killed,” French said in court March 7, before reiterating his fear that a freed Velasquez might try to attack them again. “He's a risk to all members of the public who might be around (Goularte).”
Geragos argued that high bail and monitoring would be sufficient to ensure the 39-year-old Velasquez would make his court appearances, and offered to surrender his client's and his wife's passports to Judge Shelyna Brown.
“The idea of keeping him in jail while Goularte runs free is the ultimate (example) of the criminal justice system gone mad,” Geragos said. “You can set a high bail, but this is not a no-bail case.”
He further argued to the judge that prosecutors' citation of a school being in the vicinity of the shooting site was a disturbing irony in light of the fact that the man charged with molesting Velasquez's relative, also at a haven for children, was freed. That elicited loud applause from Velasquez's family and supporters, who were so numerous that they
packed the courtroom and left many having to wait in the hallway.
That boisterous reaction prompted an admonition from Brown, who threatened spectators with removal if they had another outburst.
“This is a court of law, not a movie,” Brown said.
During the bail hearing, Brown made clear that she was not factoring what happened with Goularte's release, since those charges were not heard in her courtroom. Before she made her decision, French read a letter from Goularte's mother in which she recounted riding in the truck with Goularte and her husband, who was wounded after Velasquez allegedly opened fire at them near Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue.
Patricia Goularte, who operates the day care
where the charged crimes involving her son allegedly occurred, wrote that she was “continuing to remove shards of glass from my arm” and that she wakes up out of sleep with visions of the shooting, before concluding that anything short of jail detention for Velasquez “will not prevent him attempting to kill us again.”
Brown acknowledged Velasquez's supporters in the courtroom and 37 letters of support submitted by what she described as “lawyers, sports figures and prominent figures in the community.” But ultimately Brown denied Velasquez bail, and suggested she was influenced by how the allegations described gunfire that put bystanders at risk given that the alleged shooting was from one vehicle to another.
“The facts are clear here
this was an alleged act of violence that involved following the individuals, chasing the individuals, ramming the individuals, and firing at the individuals at pointblank range,” Brown said, calling the actions “reckless by any standard.”
“The risk is too great and there will be no bail set at this time,” she added.
Velasquez was serene and did not give much of a reaction as the courtroom spectators gasped in disappointment. They filed out quietly, and after consulting with his attorneys, Velasquez was escorted back to the Main Jail adjacent to the courthouse.
Outside the courthouse, Geragos echoed his in-court criticisms about Velasquez being in jail for protecting his family. He alluded to the “heinous” allegations against Goularte — and referred to sheriff's office remarks
that detectives are investigating the possibility of additional abuse cases — and how Velasquez or his family were not allowed to give input on a judge's decision to grant Goularte supervised release.
“Is there anybody out there who would say to a father that this is not what you should do? Is there anybody out there who finds it to be beyond the pale that a father is not consulted with a release of the perpetrator back into the public with zero-dollar bail, yet they're holding Cain on no bail?” Geragos said. “This is why people are disgusted, and rightfully so, with the criminal justice system.”
“We plan on vindicating Cain,” he added. “We plan on getting Cain back with his family.”
Velasquez is next scheduled to appear in court April 12.