Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman heard the oral arguments of defense counsel Joaquin DLG. Torres, and Assistant Attorney General Brian D. Gallagher.
In August, Wiseman reduced the $100,000 cash bail to $75,000, and required Hocog, 18, to post 10 percent, or $7,500, in cash.
Hocog, Joseph Cabrera Camacho Jr., 31, Angel Jess Santos, 21, and Ivan Jones Castro, 33, were separately arrested by authorities on the charge of kidnapping and raping a Kagman student last June.
The court imposed a $100,000 bail on each of the four defendants who remain incarcerated at the Department of Corrections facility.
Hocog’s parents were suggested as his third party custodians.
Torres said the alleged incident occurred outside the presence of Hocog’s parents.
He added that the court may also impose a series of restrictions to ensure Hocog will appear in court as required.
“Although the charges against [Hocog] are significant, at this point they remain allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent of all charges,” Torres said in his motion and memorandum.
Torres said his client has significant ties to the community, will be attending General Equivalency Diploma classes, “and does not have the means to flee the jurisdiction.”
Torres noted that his client was mentioned by Angel Santos on Aug. 2, 2010 “after one and a half months” of the incident, and Santos’ statement has “inconsistencies.”
Santos first mentioned an individual’s name, not his client, during the first interview, Torres said.
“Defendant Santos is not credible, he has too many inconsistencies,” Torres added.
Torres said his client was never identified by the victim, “and has not been identified up to this point.”
“Defendant Hocog is the victim’s classmate at Kagman High School but the victim did not recognize him as one of the perpetrators,” Torres said.
In his motion to oppose, Gallagher said: “It is the commonwealth’s contention that the court’s prior decisions should be honored. Specifically, the drastic reduction of [Hocog’s] bail [that represented a 92.5 percent reduction] would cause irreparable harm to the people of the commonwealth and to the prosecution’s main witness, the victim of a brutal sexual assault.”
The prosecutor added: “This drastic reduction in bail, which virtually insures this defendant’s presence in the community pending the outcome of his trial, will make it impossible for the commonwealth’s witnesses (especially the teenage victim) to fully participate in the prosecution.”
As the court has already noted from the bench, Gallagher said “a commonwealth witness has already been threatened by one of the participants in this brutal assault. The law of this commonwealth requires the court to consider ‘the nature and circumstances of the offense charged’ in determining an appropriate bail.”
In addition, Gallagher noted that “the community has a strong interest in the administration of the justice system.”
Under the bail schedule outlined by the court, Hocog’s bail will be “7.5 percent of that required of his co-conspirators.”
“Such a drastic discrepancy in bail between the participants in a joint enterprise can only serve to undermine the community’s faith in the evenhanded administration of justice,” Gallagher said.
Citing the insufficiency to insure Hocog’s presence in court as directed, Gallagher said: “When facing a life sentence and overwhelming evidence of his guilt, $7,500 of his parents’ money will do little to encourage this defendant to comply with the court’s order. Moreover, his incentive to flee is strong.”
The nature and circumstances of this offense are “certainly egregious,” Gallagher said.
The weight of the evidence against Hocog is “overwhelming,” Gallagher said.
He added: “The court has already found probable cause that this defendant committed the crimes in the information. One of the defendant’s own co-conspirators has identified him, and has agreed to testify against this defendant. In return for his cooperation, this defendant’s co-conspirator shall receive a sentence of 40 years incarceration, of which he will serve between 10 and 20 years (hardly the ‘sweetheart deal’ described by counsel for one of defendant’s co-conspirators). The overwhelming evidence against this defendant certainly militates against the bail reduction ordered by the court.”
