SAN ANTONIO — Before Jesse Garcia allegedly led police on a car chase, fired at officers with a rifle and put two of those officers in the hospital with severe injuries Thursday, he was a man previously released on bond for crimes he had been connected to—multiple times.
San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officials said Garcia had multiple outstanding felony warrants at the start of Thursday's chain of events, which would eventually end with him being arrested after an hours-long standoff.
On Friday morning, SAPD Police Chief William McManus expressed frustration that Garcia had been let out of jail despite a list of previous crimes. In a Zoom press conference that afternoon, First Assistant District Attorney Christian Henricksen said they couldn't keep Garcia in jail, and that the Bexar County DA's shared the community's frustration.
Henricksen fielded questions for nearly 30 minutes. District Attorney Joe Gonzales was not on the call because, according to his office, "there was a lot going on."
"The bond system that we have right now is incredibly frustrating for us. I know it's frustrating for law enforcement. I believe it is frustrating for the public," Henricksen said. "The judges, under the law, have very limited authority to remand people without bond."
Bonds are set by judges, not the district attorney's office. Instead, Henricksen said, DA prosecutors can make bond recommendations at hearings and present evidence in order to request higher bonds than normal for a particular offense.
A revolving door
Henrickson said Garcia was arrested on Sept. 22, 2022, for possession of a controlled substance of more than 4 grams and less than 200, a second-degree felony. He was also arrested for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, which amounts to a state felony.
Henrickson said the judge gave Garcia bonds which totaled $17,000. Garcia bonded out three days later.
Garcia was again arrested on June 15 of this summer, in a vehicle burglary incident which happened earlier in the year, as well as charges of felon in possession of a firearm and evading arrest with a vehicle.
He was given bonds totaling $40,000, an amount Henricksen said was higher than normal for those charges.
Still, again Garcia posted bond a week later, on June 22.
Then, Henricksen said, the bond company that posted that money lost contact with Garcia between June and August 3. He said the bond company essentially could no longer guarantee that Garcia would show up to court, and they had to file a statement with the court that said as much.
Henricksen said a judge doubled Garcia's bonds and issued a warrant for his arrest, which made him a fugitive.
'Very limited circumstances'
When asked why the DA's office didn't recommend Garcia be held without bail, Henricksen essentially said that wasn't an option.
"This is generally not something a judge can do. There are very limited circumstances in which a judge can remand somebody without bail. There are limited circumstances on a capital murder," he said. "Another example is if someone violates a condition of bond after a bond was set, and violates a bond condition that was put in place to protect someone from family violence."
The assistant DA said the only thing the DA's office could have done differently was to attempt to get the warrant for arrest faster, after the bond company lost track of Garcia. He also said there were other issues that allow people to get out of jail on even higher bonds.
Henricksen said that bail bond companies will sometimes pay a defendant's bond for a fee of only 10% or even 3% of the existing bond. That means a $100,000 bond could be paid by simply paying a company as little as $3,000.
He also said some companies will allow a defendant to use property as collateral to get out of jail and effectively pay nothing. Additionally, Henricksen said the DA's office doesn't get to see firsthand how much people are paying to get out when they go through a bond company.
The result, he said, is a system that depends more on how much a person can pay rather than the risk the person poses to the community. Henricksen gave the following example which he had seen recently:
"One person was booked on a class B misdemeanor and the other was booked on capital murder. They guy who is booked on a class B misdemeanor was sitting in jail because he couldn't afford a $500 bond, and the capital murder defendant was out," he said. "That doesn't make any sense to me, but this is how our cash bond system works. And until we get something that makes a little more sense, this is going to continue to happen."
Henricksen said other states have tried different approaches. It may be up to the state Legislature to make changes to prevent people from getting out on bond in more situations.
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