LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — There is more interest and attention on how judges in the state set bail after recent cases involving suspects who were released on bail, only to get arrested shortly after.
That's what happened in the case against 59-year-old Aaron Cole. According to a police report, Cole was arrested by Metro Police on February 16 for threatening to stab someone on a Regional Transportation Commission bus.
He was released from Clark County Detention Center on a $3,000 bail on February 22.
Just five days later, on February 27, Cole was arrested again accused of fatally stabbing 29-year-old Dominque Lucas on an RTC bus.
Channel 13 also found court records revealing Cole's previous criminal history which includes being sentenced to more than 20 years in a Texas State Prison and convicted of attempted murder in 1995.
SAFETY CONCERN: RTC looks to improve safety on buses after two violent incidents
In another case, police said Rashawn Gaston-Anderson was arrested in December 2021 for shooting a server at a restaurant in Chinatown 11 times. The server survived. But just weeks before, Anderson was arrested on multiple charges in Las Vegas for crimes of burglary, pandering and grand larceny, and was released on bail.
LONG RECOVERY: Recovering ShangHai Taste shooting survivor speaks publicly for the first time
Judges in Nevada have tough decisions to make, according to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson.
Wolfson said ultimately all criminal cases are unique and each judge makes their own decision based on information presented to them.
"Every single day in this courthouse, they make decisions regarding bail, and there's no guarantee that the decision is going to be right or wrong," said Wolfson.
Wolfson said it's important for the public to know judges are also human beings.
"What if they make a decision to release somebody and that person commits a murder? Judges are affected by that. So I think that they feel the pressure of the decision-making they have to go through. And no system is perfect. But I think we have a very good system set in place for judges to have the most information to make the best decisions," said Wolfson.
The process of how judges set bail looks different after the bail reform law passed in 2021, according to Wolfson.
"Now there's a new process that judges have to follow when determining whether or not to set bail," said Wolfson. "The accused person is entitled to a prompt hearing. The person is entitled to have a lawyer at this hearing. Then the burden is on the prosecutor to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that this person may either be a flight risk or danger to the community."
13 INVESTIGATES: Public safety, jail overcrowding and rights of the accused in Clark County
Wolfson said ultimately flight risk and danger to the community are the most important factors judges consider when setting bail.
A pretrial risk assessment, developed by a committee led by then Chief Justice James Hardesty in 2016, is designed to better guide judges on these two factors.
"That tool was designed with data essentially to predict the future, like predict human behavior, which is a tall task," said Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Elana Lee Graham.
The assessment has 10 scoring items including employment status, housing status and criminal history of a defendant's past 10 years.
"I think that every case should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. My personal opinion is that regardless of whether it's five years ago or 20 years ago, if a person has a prior felony conviction, it should be information that the judge has to consider. Now, if a person has a violent felony conviction from 25 years ago, that's not as persuasive to keep the person in custody as a violent offense from five years ago. But the judge should be aware of all of it," said Wolfson.
In terms of bail reform, Clark County Chief Deputy Public Defender John Piro said the system was unconstitutional before it.
"It puts the presumption of innocence at the forefront, which all of us are. Anybody accused of a crime, any citizen has the presumption of innocence," said Piro.
Piro said repeat offender cases are not the norm and the current system results in safer outcomes for the community.
"We focus on the minority of cases where something bad happens. But the majority of cases it does not. And the majority of cases it results in better results for the community. If a person who is accused of a crime goes out, gets a job, maintains a job, continues to work, continues to support his family, even if they are eventually convicted of that crime and they get probation, they are in a better spot to succeed," said Piro.
The owner of Kind Bail Bonds, Joy Modafferi, said she wishes there was more consistency when it comes to communication from the courts.
"Because it gets very confusing even for the families to help the people when you know they're in that holding pattern," said Modafferi. "Because you can go to your hearing, the judge can give you an O.R. They can also increase the bail. So I think it would just be for public safety and for the community if we had a bail schedule that was adhered to and that was formatted in a way that anybody could look at it and say, okay, this is the charge. This is going to be the bail."
While not perfect, there's a good system set in place for judges to make the best decisions, according to Wolfson.
"I think we need more concentration on what types of people should remain in custody, period. Like I said, if a person is not going to appear in court or if the person is dangerous, I believe they should be held in custody," said Wolfson.
