SAN JOSE — Ex-UFC champion Cain Velasquez’s second attempt at securing bail and supervised release was denied by a judge Monday morning, meaning the San Jose-trained mixed-martial arts fighter will remain in jail while he defends himself against attempted murder charges alleging he shot at a man suspected of molesting his child relative and ended up wounding the man’s stepfather.
In a San Jose courtroom, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Shelyna Brown stood by her decision to remand Velasquez to jail without bail, saying circumstances haven’t changed since her initial March 7 ruling. Brown had previously stated the allegations against Velasquez — that he methodically chased then opened fire on Harry Goularte and his parents on Feb. 28 — showed him to be a continuing public danger.
Goularte’s stepfather who was wounded, Paul Bender, appeared at Monday’s hearing via video call and told the court his belief that Velasquez “will finish what he started” if he were to be released.
Velasquez’s attorney, Mark Geragos, had proposed to the court that Velasquez be released on $1 million bail with electronic monitoring. He also said that if released, Velasquez would relocate to a treatment facility in Texas, in part to assuage the safety concerns of the judge and Bender and his family.
Geragos said after the hearing he respectfully disagreed with the judge’s decision to keep Velasquez in jail.
“We had proposed what I believe is a re-fashioned bail package and conditions that well exceed 99.9% of all cases involving a non-murder in the state of California,” Geragos said. “For him to be held on no bail under these circumstances is outrageous.”
Deputy District Attorney Aaron French said after the hearing that the proposal from Velasquez’s defense team did not satisfy safety fears that stemmed from the alleged acts, which fueled charges of attempted murder and other assault and weapons crimes.
“If you look at the facts of the case, he set out that day — and it’s not really much of a question — to kill Harry, was willing to do what he did, in the open and in public. It was on the street, he doesn’t have concern about who gets hit by his car, who gets hit by a stray bullet,” French said. “The only thing that has changed is the passage of time. I don’t think an ankle monitor or moving out of state will protect the public.”
The events leading to the alleged shooting by Velasquez unfolded in late February, after Goularte was charged with one felony count of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14, specifically a 4-year-old. According to Santa Clara County sheriff’s investigators and prosecutors, the reported victim, a close relative of Velasquez, told their parents in February about being molested by Goularte at a home daycare in San Martin operated by Goularte’s mother.
This news organization is withholding the child’s name and exact relationship to Velasquez because the child is a minor and reported sexual abuse victim.
Goularte was arraigned Feb. 25, and a judge granted him supervised release, over objections from the district attorney’s office. Three days later, investigators say Bender and Goularte’s mother drove from San Martin to Morgan Hill to pick Goularte up and take him to San Jose to get outfitted for an ankle monitor. Court documents allege that Velasquez followed the parents in his pickup truck and that once they picked up Goularte, he drove up to their vehicle and fired a handgun at Goularte, then followed them as they drove away.
The pursuit ended near Monterey Highway and Bailey Road on the southern edges of San Jose, where Velasquez reportedly fired several shots at the truck, wounding Bender. Velasquez was arrested a short distance away by San Jose police.
Geragos on Monday reiterated a frustration shared by Velasquez’s family and supporters — who again showed up en masse to the courthouse for the hearing — with what he called the “hypocrisy” of a man accused of child molestation walking free while Velasquez remains in jail.
“There’s one person that apparently has a fear of Cain, and there’s thousands of children that should have fear of his stepson,” Geragos said.
The fears of Bender, his wife and Goularte of Velasquez and his supporters have prompted them to appear at court hearings remotely. Goularte’s attorney said last month that they have been forced into hiding, with only a select number of court officers aware of where they are currently residing.
During Monday’s hearing, Geragos mentioned traumatic brain injuries suffered by Velasquez — presumably from years of mixed-martial arts training and prize fighting — as an issue that should mitigate the court’s consideration of bail for him. But Patrick Steinfeld, an attorney for Bender and his wife, said after the hearing that the notion that Velasquez is suffering from such injuries is an argument for him staying in custody.
“The defense raised that as a mitigating circumstance, but we saw that as an aggravating circumstance,” Steinfeld said. “Cain Velasquez was not able to control his impulses that day, and he won’t be able to if he was released, regardless of the conditions.”
