Wednsday, Sept. 2, 2009
I can’t be the only one who’s appalled that Judge Richard Oberholzer reduced by half the bail of accused rapist Richard James Berkowitz last month.
This guy is accused of picking up a nearly incapacitated 14-year-old girl by the side of the road who was passed out from drinking the night before. Police say he took her to his house where he raped her, then made her wash and sent her on her way.
Adding insult to injury he allegedly lectured her that “this would be a good lesson” for her not to drink and it should be a “wake up call” for her.
A slight pause, please, while I ungrit my teeth and try to stop the visions of mayhem I’d like to inflict on the monster that would do and say such things to a child. Deep breath.
OK, back to the bail reduction.
First, I think Oberholzer dropped the ball on this and not just on a philosophical level. He was correct that the “bail schedule” called for $250,000, but that’s not the whole story.
Bail had already been set by another judge at $400,000 at Berkowitz’ arraignment. The District Attorney’s office sent a prosecutor to the arraignment — a rare assignment — specifically to request an increased bail, Deputy D.A. Lisa Green told me.
Not only was that increase granted, but at Berkowitz’ pre-preliminary hearing Aug. 5, the court asked Probation to conduct a bail review and make a recommendation, which was done. A short time later, Berkowitz’ bail was increased again to $500,000, said Deputy District Attorney Felicia Nagle, who’s now handling the case.
When Berkowitz’ public defender made a motion to reduce bail, which was heard on Aug. 21, Nagle was out of the office and Deputy D.A. Art Norris had to step in, offering a basic objection to the reduction.
Oberholzer ruled that without a basis to keep bail higher, he had to go with the amount listed in the bail schedule. It’s true that Norris wasn’t able to give a heart-wrenching objection with all the specifics.
But here’s a thought: Oberholzer could have opened the file and seen that bail had already been bumped by previous courts, which did have more details.
Instead, he cut it to $250,000. Berkowitz posted bond and he’s out.
The victim’s mother told us she was outraged. So am I.
And not just by how Oberholzer handled this particular case.
I looked over the bail schedule and it’s all over the place with no rhyme or reason for amounts. Each county’s judges set the schedule annually based on what guidelines, I’m not sure.
More importantly, rape and other crimes against women (we are most often the victims of certain crimes) are unconscionably low.
Bail for a charge of rape in Kern County is $50,000.
It’s the same amount for using false documents to conceal citizenship, campaign violations, vandalism to a church or cemetery, interference with civil rights, false personation of another, and so on.
Come on, bail for rape should be far higher. At least as high as “threats to the life of an official or judge,” which carries a $100,000 bail.
A random sampling of bail schedules in other counties showed Kern is in line with valley counties, but we’re low in comparison with others including Los Angeles, Ventura, San Francisco and Sacramento, which all set bail at either $100,000 or $150,000 for a rape charge.
Isn’t protecting women just as important here?
As you can tell, I still haven’t gotten over the fact that Robert Fuller was arrested and allowed to bail out twice for violating the restraining order against him by his estranged wife, Annette Sowders.
His total bail was only $12,500 — $5,000 for one trip to jail and $7,000 for the next with $500 thrown in for a vandalism charge. (The schedule, by the way, sets bail for violating a restraining order at $10,000, so I’m not sure why his were lower even than that low amount.)
Four days after he bailed out the last time, Fuller is accused of killing Sowders and her mother, Sharon Cannon, in their home.
Seems all Kern's "tough on crime" talk is just talk when it comes to brutalizing women.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian. Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/noholdsbarred, call her at 395-7373 or e-mail lhenry@bakersfield.com
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