Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler told The Epoch Times that the bail set on a recent shooting suspect was woefully low and could have endangered public safety.
The defendant, 21-year-old John DiCaprio, was able to post bail and then failed twice to appear in court before turning himself in on Jan 16.
On Dec. 13, DiCaprio was arrested by Newburgh police for illegally possessing a revolver and a semiautomatic pistol.
Both handguns were loaded; one had its serial number scraped.
At the following arraignment hearing, prosecutors recommended that bail be set at $100,000 cash, $500,000 secured bond, or $750,000 partially secured bond.
DiCaprio could choose to pay any of the above three forms of bail.
The judge ordered a bail at $5,000 cash, $50,000 secured bond, or $50,000 partially secured bond.
DiCaprio posted bail and was released from jail.
Just days later, on Dec. 17, DiCaprio was arrested again for allegedly shooting an adult in one leg, with part of the bullet striking a nearby child.
The shooting incident allegedly took place on Dec. 10.
At the arraignment hearing, prosecutors requested the same bail as last time in front of a different judge.
The judge doubled the cash bail to $10,000 while setting a $50,000 secured bond and a $75,000 partially secured bond.
DiCaprio posted bail again and left jail.
“It is just inadequate bail. And in the shooting case, it is just reckless with public safety. The judges need to be re-educated on what is reasonable bail under the circumstances,” Hoovler said.
Judges said at the arraignment hearings that they set the bail following the “least restrictive” requirement under the bail law, according to Hoovler.
The 2019 bail law requires that judges consider a defendant’s ability to pay and set the least restrictive bail condition to ensure future court appearances.
“Judges said they are following the law and that their hands are tied, but I disagree,” Hoovler said. “I get many judges who would not have issued 5,000 or $10,000 bail. They would have issued much more.”
He added that the low bail was an outlier instead of a typical occurrence at the county courthouse.
Within a month of release, a grand jury indicted DiCaprio with Attempted Assault in the First Degree, three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, and Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree.
He was scheduled to appear in court to be arraigned on Jan. 11, but he did not show up.
Under the bail reform law, after failing to show up in court, a suspect has 48 hours to make it right; within that grace period, a judge may not issue an arrest warrant.
DiCaprio did not return to court, and a warrant was issued on Jan. 13.
Hoovler put out a release seeking public help locating DiCaprio, who turned himself in on Jan. 14.
