Santa Fe – A Santa Fe County magistrate is imposing a minimum $5,000 cash-only bail on anyone charged with domestic violence – a policy defense attorneys say is unconstitutional and against state law.
Presiding Magistrate George Anaya Jr. said he enacted the policy last month because other judges don’t have enough information during arraignments to make an informed decision about whether the defendant is too dangerous to be released.
“Is it a little extreme? Maybe,” he said. “Domestic violence is so unpredictable, and it will be the one case we don’t take seriously where someone will get killed.”
Public defenders Holly Clifton and Earl Rhoads filed a petition earlier this month asking state District Judge Stephen Pfeffer to stop magistrates from setting “standard bonds.”
In recently filed motions requesting bond-reduction hearings, Clifton wrote that the court is required to look at each case individually at arraignment before setting bail.
“An accused is presumed innocent until he is found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Clifton wrote. “The purpose of this bond is to ensure the appearance of the defendant in court … not to punish the defendant for alleged crimes.”
She said the policy also affects defendants who are poor because they become stuck in jail awaiting trial and frequently lose their jobs.
“What follows is an inability to pay rent or a home mortgage often resulting in the loss of housing for the whole family, including alleged victims,” she wrote.
Anaya, who handles 2,000 domestic violence cases each year, said he implemented the policy to protect victims’ rights.
“An excessive bond would be $100,000 or more,” he said.
If a person believes the $5,000 is too high, Anaya said he advises them to hire an attorney who can file a motion asking for a bond-reduction hearing.
That gives the district attorney’s office time to contact the victim in the case and let them know the alleged abuser might get out of jail, as well as gather more facts about the case, he said.
