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As of April 30, 950 inmates have been released from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, to reduce overcrowding at jails in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
In total, 35 inmates have tested positive during the pandemic, and all have recovered except for nine still currently infected, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
One inmate released was Livermore resident Gregory Paul Vien, 61, who was booked into Santa Rita Jail in November 2019 when DNA from a discarded plastic ice cream spoon led to his arrest for two sexual assaults that occurred in 1997, including one in his hometown.
“We absolutely oppose this, as does the District Attorney’s Office,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly.
“Our agency is disappointed by the decision,” Livermore police Sgt. Steve Goard told the Weekly. “The victims in this case have waited decades for justice and now they have to wait even longer. Unfortunately, these decisions are beyond our control and out of our hands.”
Vien, a maintenance worker by trade, was living in Livermore when he was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting two women in Livermore and Union City in 1997.
He was arraigned Nov. 7 on three counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object and two counts of forcible oral copulation for the alleged sexual assaults of a 41-year-old woman in Union City on May 6, 1997, and a 22-year-old woman in Livermore on Sept. 15, 1997. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Vien’s original bail amount was set at $2.5 million, but Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon allowed Vien to be released at 6:50 p.m. April 24 on his own recognizance to his residence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Kelly. The criminal case remains active.
Reardon, a veteran judge who formerly was a prosecutor, granted Vien a reduction of his bail down to zero, defense attorney Melissa Adams told the Bay City News Service on Thursday.
Adams said she filed a motion to reduce Vien’s bail because his health issues make it unsafe for him to remain at Santa Rita Jail because of the risk he might be infected by the coronavirus if he remains there. The attorney said she believes Vien has risk factors that health officials say make some people more likely to die if they contract the virus.
Adams said Reardon agreed to reduce Vien’s bail and release him but also required him to wear an ankle monitor and not to leave his home except to go to court or to meet with his attorneys.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said in a statement this week, “We argued vehemently against his release, and we are strongly opposed to releasing people charged with serious and violent felonies such as rape and sexual assault.”
“There are many other individuals with this type of violent criminal history being released. We are very, very concerned,” Kelly said. “We will be vigilant in keeping the public apprised of these releases.”
In one publicized example, Rocky Music, 32, had been taken to Santa Rita on April 19 to be booked on carjacking charges, but was instead released at 7:23 p.m. that day. Shortly after being released without bail, Music allegedly attempted to carjack a second vehicle.
How does this make any sense at all? Which is a bigger risk, those prisoners catching covid-19 or putting them back in the community to commit another violent crime?
Dumb…..but hey, exposure to covid is cruel and unusual punishment right?
This is so wrong. This is a serious crime that he is charged with. He should not be out on the streets. I can understand wanting to release people who are not charged with a violent crime because of the virus but this is ridiculous.
Judge Thomas Reardon.
Write it down.
Judges are elected. Virtually no information is available for research for selecting judges come voting time.
I thought they weren’t going to release violent offenders. A rapist is certainly one and should not be released! This is outrageous and I get that they don’t want Covid-19 rampant through the prison system, but this guy is not infected, so he should stay put in Santa Rita!
Are they going to release prisoners in the winter months to avoid catching a flu now? Ridiculous. Today’s society favors those break the laws.
Judge Reardon’s term as a Superior Court Judge ends in 2025. If you feel strongly that his judgement is lacking, put this on your calendar and vote him out of office in 2025. Your safety is too important to allow people with no common sense to make these kind of decisions
This is so very very wrong!! In addition, to being unsafe to have him on the street, it is a slap in the face for all the law enforcement agency’s time, effort and dedication to making sure our justice system stays intact. And just imagine the families of those raped. I’m sorry, but releasing a prisoner with these type of charges is just poor judgement and a waste of the CA taxpayers dollars as well. Look at the number of offenders they’ve let out during Covid that were arrested on new charges in a matter of days of their release. I’ve read of several instances in the Bay Area in just the last couple of weeks. Shame on the whole system! Shame on those that are decriminalizing CRIME in general.
If this man had been tried and found guilty, I do not believe he would have met the criteria for release.
It appears he was arrested and jailed 6 months ago and, in the (albeit unlikely) event that he had been able to post the bail set, could theoretically have been immediately released, pending trial.
Does PW know if a trial date has even been set?
In these circumstances, I think the defense attorney should be responsible for his behavior. If she’s so worried about his health, let her take care of him.
Hold on a second here….whose life is more valuable? A repeat sexual offender who “might” contract Covid, or the lives of every innocent woman in the vicinity of this man? SERIOUSLY?!
So glad we moved from California. Used to live in Country Fair and still have family in Cali. This is completely idiotic.
I wish folks felt this way about Biden. Where are the “me too” people?
That’s what you get when you people vote for a libtard judge from UC Berkeley. I wonder if he would have done the same thing if it was his daughter that was raped. I pray Livermore P.D. Is watching him because there is no rehabilitation for rapists. He will do it again. Thanks reardan for being such a moron!!
Judge Thomas Reardon Needs to be recalled, remember, this is the way you voice your displeasure with a Judge that is
behaving like a demented fool!
Judge Reardon is one of the finest judges on the bench. He is a former District Attorney and prosecuted criminals for many years. The defendant is Innocent until proven guilty and it’s really hard to go on a crime spree from home in an ankle monitor. Given the pandemic it is impossible to get cases to trial now anyway. The victims will get justice. Its just going to take a little longer.
I suspect the Judge may also have been operating within guidelines more broadly set.
Those so charged are entitled to an expeditious trial, which would also appear to be in the public interests here, so if releases like this are going to happen, I trust the DA’s office and the courts are trying to figure out how they prioritize and expedite cases as soon as they are practically able to do so.
Part of this decision likely occurred because the California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye requested the California Judicial Council, which she heads, to lower bails to zero, in light of Covid-19. How does an organization like the California Judicial Council have that sort of power over all cases?
Start with the recalling California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye and then any judge that follows this nonsense (i.e. Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon).
These attorneys, which is what judges originally are, are so out of touch with communities.
The Sanctuary State of CA strikes again.
All you Dems are getting exactly what you voted for and the high percentage of people who don’t bother to vote have nothing to complain about.
This causes one indignation!