Defendant Arrested For Two Murders; Risk Assessment Tool Says Low Risk For Public Safety (This is Not a Joke)
A teenage double murder suspect has been freed on an ankle monitor after a judge used a woke bail reform group's 'safety tool' to decide he posed little risk to society.
Adrian Avila, 18, walked out of prison Tuesday after Albuquerque district judge Stanley Whitaker ruled that prosecutors could not prove that Avila posed a threat to the community despite having evidence that linked the teen to two separate killings.
He will be required to wear a GPS ankle monitor at all times and must adhere to a curfew.
It was deployed by courts in New Mexico and 2017, with the Arnold Foundation's website saying that it seeks to 'eliminate unjust pretrial detention and create a justice system where jail is only used when absolutely necessary.'
At the time of its introduction, research surrounding the assessment showed that suspects who were considered low and medium risk were apt to commit more crimes if they were imprisoned for a long stretch.
The controversial tool helps judges to determine if defendants can be released on their own recognizance, released under strict measures or kept in custody as they await trial.
The judicial system examines how the dangerous the accused suspect could be if they were to be released from custody and the possibility of them not skipping their trial hearings.
But bail reform measures have come under extreme scrutiny in recent months, after suspects deemed safe to released committed severe crimes across the US, leading to allegations that supporters are more concerned about defendants' rights than the safety of the general public.
Avila scored a 2 out of 7 on a scale for being a threat to society and was given 1 on a scale of failing to show up for trial.
The Albuquerque Police Department chief Harold Medina slammed Judge Whitaker for basing his decision on the risk assessment tool to release Avila from prison.
'The ankle monitor is not the answer for somebody who has a violent history or violent charge on their hands,' Medina said, as quoted by ABC television affiliate KOAT. 'And if the Arnold (Tool) needs to be changed, let's stop talking about it and actually get it done.
It's the first time that a defendant who is accused of murdering two people in separate incidents is permitted to await trial away from the confines of a jail cell, according Bernalillo County district attorney Raul Torrez.
'We've made the decision already to file an appeal of that order and seek review from an appellate court and ask that Mr. Avila be remanded into custody pending outcome of not just one, but two separate murder cases,' Torrez told KOAT.
Defense attorney, Ahmad Assed, said prosecutors were lacking evidence took keep Avila in detention ahead of the start of the trial, indicating his client does not have a criminal record and that he turned himself in.
'We don't decide cases based on innuendo and DA's closing arguments geared toward the eye of the media. That was the whole deal today, was just those notion of a closing argument or opening statement for the media's purposes,' Assed said, according to KOAT. 'It's not for the court or the judge to discuss the details of the case. The judge must follow the law, and the law clearly requires the state to act. If the state does not act, and in this case, the state did not act, the court must follow the law.'
Avila is accused of being one of the four people who had a role in the murder of 17-year-old Donnie Brandon in August 2020.
Authorities charged him for the crime last week.
Avila turned himself in to authorities in December 2021 and was charged for the February 11, 2021 killing of former corrections officer, Elias Otero, 24. A second suspect, Anna Bella Dukes, 18, was also charged for the murder and remains in prison without bond.
Both Avila and Dukes face Dukes murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, tampering with evidence and conspiracy charges.
Investigator found that Dukes used a social media application to lure Otero's brother, Nicholas Otero, and allow Avila and another suspect to rob him. Otero was forced out of his vehicle and demanded him to turn over cash, jewelry and a gun.
They held him at gunpoint and drove to his home in his car and a second vehicle. Upon arriving they instructed him to call Elias Otero, so that he could meet them with additional money and a gun. Otero stepped out of the residence and threatened to shoot the suspects during the encounter before Avila shot and killed him.
Alicia Otero, who opposes the Arnold Tool, fears that another family could deal with the pain of losing their loved one with Avila awaiting trial.
'I feel another family is going to have to go through the pain that we're going through by losing their loved one also,' she said, according to KOAT. 'Every day we wake up. I don't eat, I don't sleep. All I think about is what it took from us. He took my baby.'
To see more CLICK HERE.
Commentary- If a double murder arresstee is not a public safety risk, then no one is a public safety risk under the Arnold Tool Risk Assessment Tool or any derivative of it.
In two of the last three Legislative Sessions in Texas Senator John Whitmire supported the adoption of the Arnold Foundation risk assessment tool for Texas courts. Representative Murr supported risk assessments in all of the last three legislative sessions. During that time there has been a great body of work in science and technology which had debunked their use and which has concluded that they should not be a part of criminal justice reform.
The idea of using a risk assessment tool originated on the left. Then at one point it was supported by both the left and the right as the panacena to fix an allegedly broken system. Then time, science and technology started catching up with these tools and supporters started heading for the exits. We have compiled numerous articles, press releases and research papers that have come to the conclusion that risk assessments should not be used. Nevertheless, these is one group is Texas that continues to push for their use. Right on Crime and TPPF have attempted to rebrand the risk assessment tool as a "conservative" response to criminal justice reform (even though the history of their use shows the opposite).
For more information-
Podcast- Are Surety Bonds Causing People to Languish in Jail? CLICK HERE.
HB20 by Murr; Proposing the Use of a Risk Assessment Tool CLICK HERE.
The Illusion of Risk Assessments CLICK HERE.
Current Status of Risk Assessments- Rejected in California CLICK HERE.
October 2020 PBT Newsletter- All About Risk Assessments-
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