The state judge who on Monday set a $20,000 bail for five defendants arrested at a remote New Mexico compound where authorities say children were being trained to conduct school shootings has a history of issuing low bail to violent offenders.
Judge Sarah Backus, an elected Democrat, ordered the two men and three women to wear ankle monitors, have weekly contact with their attorneys and not consume alcohol or own firearms while on bail. She said although she was concerned by “troubling facts,” prosecutors failed to articulate any specific threats to the community.
Monday isn’t the first time Backus has issued low bail for suspects accused of violent crimes.
Just last month, she set a $10,000 bond for Rafael Orozco, a 24-year-old Taos man accused of battering his girlfriend, his newborn child and a health care worker at Holy Cross Hospital in September 2016.
Police said Orozco prompted a lockdown at the hospital after punching his girlfriend as she breastfed their newborn in front of a male doctor, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Cops said Orozco then grabbed the mother by the throat and slapped the baby.
Orozco reportedly fled the hospital and was arrested in Rio Arriba County a few months later. While in prison, Orozco was accused of other crimes, including obtaining Suboxone, an opioid medication, and pulling a fire alarm. A year later, he and his brother, Cristian Orozco, were charged with assaulting and threatening a guard.
In September, Backus approved an order to incarcerate Orozco at the Lea County Correctional Facility until his trial. His defense attorney recently filed a motion arguing for his release and last month, Backus ruled in his favor. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Jany Leveille, one of five suspects arrested at a New Mexico compound last week, has been transferred to the custody of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said Tuesday, according to Fox News and other outlets.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and four other defendants accused of abusing children in a jihadi training camp in New Mexico were expected to be released Tuesday on bond, many news outlets reported, including Townhall.
As of early Tuesday morning, all five suspects were still inside the Taos Detention Center.
That’s according to reporting by Gadi Schwartz of NBC News.
All 5 suspects are still inside Taos Detention center contrary to reporting from other national networks. At least 4 of them are expected to be released today.
— Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) August 14, 2018
Judge Sarah Backus on Monday ruled against the prosecutors’ request to hold the five individuals without bond pending their trial on child abuse charges.
The judge said that the prosecution failed to demonstrate that the alleged perpetrators posed “any specific threats to the community,” as Fox Newsreported.- READ MORE
[divider][/divider]The children discovered at an “extremist Muslim” compound in New Mexico earlier this month were both trained to use firearms and taught multiple tactical techniques in order to kill teachers, law enforcement and other institutions they found corrupt, state prosecutors revealed on Monday.
The prosecutors provided more details about the accusations during a court hearing in which they asked that Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and four other defendants be held pending trial on child abuse charges.
But the judge in the case ruled against prosecutors’ request.
Judge Sarah Backus said although she was concerned by “troubling facts,” prosecutors failed to articulate any specific threats to the community.
She set a $20,000 bond for each defendant and ordered that they wear ankle monitors and have weekly contact with their attorneys.