SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan imposed a $10,000 cash bail on Michael Jordan Palacios Cabrera who is accused of assaulting and choking his girlfriend.
Cabrera, 34, was charged with assault and battery, strangulation, and disturbing the peace.
After the bail hearing on Thursday morning, Judge Bogdan remanded Cabrera to the custody of the Department of Corrections and ordered him return to court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 23 at 10 a.m., and for an arraignment on Nov. 28 at 9 a.m.
Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas appeared for the government. Because there exists a conflict of interest with the Public Defender’s Office in representing Cabrera, the judge said the clerk of court shall appoint counsel to represent the defendant.
According to the complaint against Cabrera, the Department of Public Safety’s central office dispatched police officers to a reported disturbance incident at an apartment unit on Capital Hill on the early morning of Nov. 16.
The victim told the responding police officers that she was physically assaulted by Cabrera who had already left the area.
Police noted that the victim sustained a small cut on her lower lip, scratch marks on her right hand and right thigh, and a scratch mark on her lower right cheek.
Later, police found Cabrera at Club 88 poker in Garapan where he was arrested.
The victim told investigators that on the afternoon of Nov. 15 she got into an argument with Cabrera because she did not send him a message via cell phone to ask how he was doing. She said she had been dating Cabrera for a little over a month.
In the evening, Cabrera arrived at the woman’s apartment and asked her if he could talk with her. She said she let him in to hear him out, but she already felt that she did not need to be dating him if he was only going to give her problems.
As they were talking on the balcony, Cabrera got angry and locked her out “for a short time.” When he unlocked the door to let her in, Cabrera grabbed her phone from her hands. She said she tried to take it back, but Cabrera pushed her to the floor. The victim said she hit the back of her head on the floor, which made her feel dizzy and in pain.
She said while she was down on the floor, Cabrera kicked her twice on both legs. When she recovered, she grabbed her phone back from Cabrera, but he slapped her in the face multiple times using her hands.
She said she got up and tried to run into the bathroom with Cabrera chasing after her. She said she was not able to close the door and Cabrera got in. He kept trying to take her phone from her but she held onto it, she said.
When she tried to scream, Cabrera used one arm to cover her nose and mouth preventing her from breathing while he used his other arm to push the back of her head forward for leverage.
She said she could hear Cabrera mocking the sounds that she made as she tried to breathe. As she was about to pass out, Cabrera let her go and got out of the bathroom.
She said she asked Cabrera to leave while he kept mocking her as he gathered his belongings. The victim said when Cabrera left, she immediately called her father.
Michael Jordan Palacios Cabrera
