Cain Velasquez and his legal team earned a victory in court after a Santa Clara County (Calif.) judge granted the former UFC champion bail.
Velasquez, 40, has spent 253 days in jail on a charge of attempted murder, among others counts, for allegedly shooting at a car carrying Harry Goularte, a man accused of molesting Velasquez’s 4-year-old son, and striking Goularte’s stepfather in the arm with a bullet on Feb. 28.
Velasquez’s lead defense attorney, Mark Geragos, had previously requested bail three times but was shut down on each attempt. A writ petition submitted to a California appellate court also was denied.
But Velasquez’s legal fortunes changed Tuesday after Judge Arthur Bocanegra ruled that Velasquez could be released on a $1 million bond and compliance with an extended set of circumstances. The decision came after a pre-trial hearing that lasted nearly 13 hours over two days.
You can read Judge Bocanegra’s complete ruling below:
“I have undertaken an individualized consideration of the relevant factors as they relate to Mr. Velasquez. I considered the protection of the public, as well as the victims in this case, the seriousness of the charges and allegations, Mr. Velasquez’s previous criminal record of criminal history and complying with court orders, and the likelihood Mr. Velasquez will appear at future court hearings. With the consent of the defense, the court has reviewed the file for the purposes of this hearing. I will note that Mr. Velasquez is 40 years old, married with two young children, he has no criminal history. Based on what the court has reviewed, this incident is extremely serious and appears to be an isolated incident of behavior on the part of Mr. Velasquez directly connected to the sexual assault of his 4-year-old son and his son’s friends. As I mentioned, although the charges and allegations are extremely serious and dangerous, there is also a viable heat of passion defense. Mr. Velasquez has an enormous amount of support from members of the community as reflected by the many letters written by people on his behalf. The court does not find that Mr. Velasquez is a flight risk. Based on everything that has been presented to the court at this time, the court does not find by clear and convincing evidence that there are no conditions or accommodation conditions or amount of bail that will not protect the public or the victims or ensure Mr. Velasquez’s attendance for trial. Based on what Mr. Velasquez has proposed, the court is going to impose, as a condition of his release, an amount of bail of $1 million cash or bond, home detention with GPS monitoring, TBI/CTE outpatient treatment through Windwills Wellness Ranch, counseling, and/or support group for victims of sexual abuse, search and seizure conditions, no weapons, and also comply with the protective order and stay a minimum of 300 yards from Harry Goularte, Patricia Goularte, and Paul Bender.
“Mr. Velasquez, I would not release you if I was not convinced that upon a release at this time, eight months later, that you would be a danger to Harry Goularte primarily, Patricia Goularte or Paul Bender. If you are as devoted a husband and father, I’m confident and have to believe you will not jeopardize anything that would take you away from your son, your daughter, your family. I hope you don’t prove me wrong. This is obviously over the people’s objection. I am going to direct his counsel to put the conditions of the court order on pre-trial services. … Mr. Velasquez, I’m going to order that you contact pre-trial services within 24 hours of your release and arrange for the GPS.”
Velasquez is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 21 when he is due back in court.
