Saturday, July 19, 2008

Cody East is ordered to jail pending sentencing

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Less than two weeks after a judge allowed Cody East to remain free on bond until sentencing after being convicted of three counts of felony child abuse and one count of misdemeanor battery, the former Los Lunas High School star athlete was ordered back to jail.

District Judge John Pope ordered that East, 20, be held in the county jail until he's sentenced for violating his conditions of release. Two days following the jury's verdict, on Saturday, June 5, East was stabbed multiple times while at a party at an Albuquerque home.

During a hearing on Wednesday, Albuquerque Police Officer Jaime Rascon testified that he went to the University of New Mexico Hospital to talk to East about what had happened. Rascon told the judge that East had admitted to him that he had been drinking.

According to a police report, East and his brother went to a barbecue at the home of his girlfriend's cousin on Jenaro Street in Albuquerque. The report says while at the party, seven or eight people who East says he didn't know arrived.

"Cody said that after the subjects found out who he was, they grabbed him and started punching him," the report says. "After he saw that he was bleeding, he realized that he was being stabbed. He stated that he is currently going through a different incident in Los Lunas ... and that he did not want to talk about it."

Probation and Parole Officer Raul Ortega said that when East reported to his office on Monday to start the pre-sentencing report process, he admitted drinking and taking Percocet that weekend. Ortega said that East wasn't able to produce enough saliva to conduct a swab test and didn't take the required urinalysis test.

Assistant District Attorney Judith Reed argued Wednesday that East should be held without bond for violating his conditions of release. According to the prosecutor, East had to follow two conditions, including not to have any contact with any witnesses and to obey all laws.

Reed submitted hospital records indicating that East's blood alcohol content at the time he was treated for the stab wounds was .116.

"One would think after being convicted of three felony counts of child abuse that one would not go out, two days later, to an alcoholic party and have a significant amount to drink when he's under 21 years of age," Reed told the judge. "The court is well aware of the present circumstances of the present case ... that it was obviously alcohol-related. Obviously, he has not shown any restraint in his behavior, at all, even after being found guilty.

"He is dangerous when he's drinking, he's underage," Reed added. "We would ask that he be held without bond."

East's defense attorney, Jane Rocha de Gandara, told the judge that she believes the district attorney's office is targeting her client. She said East went to a barbecue with his girlfriend and was stabbed nine times and had received 15 stitches. East was treated and released the same day.

"Isn't it interesting that he (East) hasn't been charged with any crime in regards to the incident that happened that night?" Gandara asked. "He was a victim in this case. Can you name any other cases, Your Honor, in which a person is a victim and the D.A. goes through massive expense to make sure that he pays for being a victim? I think they are after Mr. East, and I believe if it was anyone else, this would not be an issue."

Gandara asked Pope to consider allowing her client to be placed on electronic monitoring rather than be taken into custody until sentencing.

Pope said he would order East held in the Valencia County Adult Detention Center based on this violation and other violations of his conditions of release he committed while awaiting trial in another case in which he was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

"He seemingly doesn't understand that he has to obey the law while awaiting the announcement of the law, basically," Pope said. "I think it's safer for Mr. East and society that I keep him in detention until sentencing."

When Pope announced his ruling, Gandara advised the judge that her client has been threatened by several inmates incarcerated at the jail. At that point, Pope said that East would be held in segregation.

As East was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he cried out, saying, "I don't want to go to seg."

The jury that convicted East of the three child abuse counts — for permitting a child to be placed in a situation that endangered the child's life or health — and the single misdemeanor count of battery also acquitted him on one count of aggravated battery against a household member and one count of battery. The jury came back deadlocked on one count of aggravated battery with great bodily harm, a charge that alleged East broke the arm of one of the girls.

A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

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