Ex-UFC champion Cain Velasquez denied bail in attempted murder case
Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez was denied bail Monday in his attempted murder case in California, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Velasquez was arrested last week after he allegedly tried to shoot and kill a man who has been accused of molesting his young relative.
Judge Shelyna Brown denied bail after a contentious hearing in a packed courtroom, saying that Velasquez’s alleged actions were “reckless by any standard” and that the “risk is too great” to release him. Velasquez is due in court next on April 12.
Prosecutors said that Velasquez allegedly followed Harry Goularte’s parents on their way to pick him up on Monday afternoon in the Bay Area. Just three days before, Goularte was charged in a separate molestation case after he allegedly molested one of Velasquez’s underage relatives.
After following them for some time, prosecutors said, Velasquez allegedly shot once at their car. Then, after a “more aggressive chase,” Velasquez rammed into their vehicle and shot several more times, prosecutors said. Goularte’s stepfather was shot in the arm and torso.
Velasquez, after a nearly 11-mile chase, then reportedly fled the scene.
Goularte, 43, was charged with a single count of lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14 late last month. Velasquez’s relative, who is younger than 10, told police that Goularte took him into a bathroom at a home daycare center that Goularte’s mother runs and touched his genitals, according to ESPN. This apparently happened “100 times,” and allegedly happened with other children, too.
Goularte has denied any wrongdoing, and was granted supervised release after his arrest.
The fact that Goularte was released, Velasquez’s attorney, Mark Geragos, argued, is why Velasquez should have been offered at least a high bail — as their cases are connected.
“The idea of keeping him in jail while Goularte runs free is the ultimate [example] of the criminal-justice system gone mad,” Geragos said, via The Mercury News. “You can set a high bail, but this is not a no-bail case.”
Prosecutors argued that it was just “pure luck” that others were not killed in the incident.
“Is there anybody out there who would say to a father that this is not what you should do? Is there anybody out there who finds it to be beyond the pale that a father is not consulted with a release of the perpetrator back into the public with zero-dollar bail, yet they’re holding Cain on no bail?” Geragos said, via The Mercury News. “This is why people are disgusted, and rightfully so, with the criminal-justice system.
“We plan on vindicating Cain. We plan on getting Cain back with his family.”
