Attorney general won’t contest bail ruling

Causing a major shift of power in the California criminal justice system, Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday he won't appeal a significant appellate ruling that could limit prosecutors' use of bail.

The 1st District Court of Appeal ordered in late January that a new bail hearing be held for a 64-year-old, fourth-strike defendant, Kenneth Humphrey, who was initially assigned a $350,000 bail in a case where he is accused of stealing $2 and a bottle of cologne. In re Kenneth Humphrey, 2018 DJDAR 943 (Jan. 25, 2018).

Eric Siddall, vice president of the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys, said he was disappointed in Becerra.

"This is a dereliction of duty on the part of the attorney general not to appeal a case when that decision is not based upon precedent or the California state constitution," he said. "Humphrey was a fourth striker and posed a clear danger to the victim that merited the $350,000 bail amount."

Legal observers noted previously that Becerra's office didn't take a concrete side in the oral argument and instead only engaged in the debate on several limited aspects of the case. Becerra's announcement Tuesday seems to have validated the perspective that the attorney general was sympathetic to the plaintiff's viewpoints on the use of bail in California.

"The Court of Appeal's decision is an important recognition of the critical need to reform our current bail system," Becerra said in a statement. "We must continue to pursue changes in our bail system to ensure it's rooted in principles of fairness and prioritizes public safety for all."

The attorney general echoed some of the language used by the plaintiffs, contending bail should be based upon defendants' level of danger to the public, not the size of their bank account, and called on legislators to make changes in the bail system.

"Bail determinations must keep Californians safe and ensure that a defendant shows up for trial," he said. "Bail determinations that do not consider whether a person awaiting trial can afford bail, and whether there are alternatives to incarceration that still preserve public safety, do not promote justice."

The appellate court's ruling also called for legislative solutions to the bail issue and specifically called out SB 10, a bill authored by state Sen. Robert M. Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland).

Hertzberg applauded Becerra's decision Tuesday.

"Attorney General Becerra joins a chorus of leading voices calling for attention to this issue," he wrote, "The findings of the chief justice's work group, followed by the 1st District Court decision, and now the attorney general's statement, together overwhelmingly make the case for bail reform, and for the passage of SB 10."