The bond does not fit the crime

What? Daniel J. Martinez is credibly accused of following a woman in his car, screaming at her, and running her car off the road on an interstate highway; in other words, assault and battery (“Woman says man with violent history ran her off road,” July 27). He has a concealed weapon in his vehicle and behaves “aggressively” toward the law officer who responded to the woman’s panicked 911 call. This man served time in prison for multiple violent crimes — including kidnapping and assault — and subsequently violated his parole conditions. Finally, he was previously accused of committing other even more serious crimes, including rape and murder, and he escaped being convicted on technicalities. And yet, Sandoval County magistrate Delilah Montano-Baca released him on a $500 bond? Either the magistrate is incompetent or the New Mexico law governing bond-release conditions is woefully inadequate.

S.E. Fisher Santa Fe