Error and/or relief
This was a grant of a petition for habeas corpus to compel the trial court to set bail in this murder case. The appellate court granted the petition and directed the court to hold a new bail hearing consistent with the opinion.
First Holding:
Our state constitution entitles arrestees to bail unless one of a limited number of exceptions applies. The exception at issue here provides that a trial judge may deny bail when a defendant is charged with a felony offense involving acts of violence on another person when the facts are evident or the presumption great and the judge finds based upon clear and convincing evidence that there is a substantial likelihood the person’s release would result in great bodily harm to others.
Authority:
Cal. Const., art. I, sec. 12
Yedinak v. Superior Court (2023) 92 Cal.App.5th 876, 884
In re Kowalczyk (2026) 19 Cal.5th 593, 630 [a court may order the pretrial detention of a noncapital defendant only in the circumstances specified in subdivisions (b) and (c) of section 12 of article I of the California Constitution]
Second Holding:
California Supreme Court caselaw imposed two more requirements for the so-called violent felony exception to apply. A trial judge must satisfy four legal requirements before issuing a pretrial detention order under section 12(b).
The judge must: (1) find there is sufficient evidence to sustain a guilty verdict against the arrestee on a qualifying felony; (2) find by clear and convincing evidence a substantial likelihood that the arrestee’s release would result in great bodily harm to others; (3) find by clear and convincing evidence that no less restrictive condition than detention can reasonably protect the interests in public or victim safety, and the arrestee’s appearance in court; and (4) set forth the reasons for their decision on the record and include them in the minute order.
Per our order to show cause, only the third and fourth Yedinak factors are at issue here. We hold the trial court did not adequately satisfy either factor.
Authority:
Yedinak v. Superior Court (2023) 92 Cal.App.5th 876, 886
In re White (2020) 9 Cal.5th 455
In re Humphrey (2021) 11 Cal.5th 135
Third Holding:
A court entering a pretrial detention order must set forth the reasons for its decision on the record and to include them in the court’s minutes, and the reasons supporting a denial of bail cannot be implied.”
Authority:
In re Harris (2021) 71 Cal.App.5th 1085, 1105, reversed in part on other grounds in In re Harris (2024) 16 Cal.5th 292