Bail reduced in drunken driving case

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 10:57 a.m.

A man who is charged with crashing his car into a Las Vegas bus stop on May 3, killing a 4-year-old boy and hospitalizing the child's mother while having a blood-alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit, had his bail lowered from $500,000 to $50,000 on Thursday.

However, 32-year-old Nicolas Serrano-Villagrana, a citizen of Mexico, had not posted bail this morning and remained at the Clark County Detention Center, a spokeswoman for the jail said this morning.

His attorney, Philip Singer, said this morning that Serrano-Villagrana's family was arranging to put up collateral for his bail and he should be free within 48 to 72 hours.

In lowering the bail, District Judge Joseph Bonaventure also ordered that if Serrano-Villagrana gets out of jail, he must remain under house arrest and not drive.

Serrano-Villagrana is facing felony charges of drunken driving with death resulting as the crash killed Angel Avendano and left his mother, Eulogia Avendano, 32, with two broken feet and other injuries.

Serrano-Villagrana is also charged with two counts of felony DUI with substantial bodily harm. A second woman, Nijailia Altitijka Graves, who was also waiting at the bus stop suffered moderate injuries.

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson argued against the bail reduction, saying that because Serrano-Villagrana is not a U.S. citizen, has a prior DUI conviction and six times failed to appear in court on traffic warrants, he is a flight risk.

Serrano-Villagrana was convicted of a drunken driving charge in 2002 in North Las Vegas.

Singer countered that Serrano-Villagrana would not flee to Mexico because he has been in the United States for 15 years, has a valid citizenship application pending with Immigration and Naturalization Service and has several brothers, sisters and cousins supporting him in Las Vegas.

"There's no way he's fleeing," Singer said this morning. "He's got every reason to stay."

Nelson acknowledged that the house arrest condition attached to the bail reduction could help ensure that Serrano-Villagrana shows up for his trial. House arrest isn't simply the "band on the ankle anymore," Nelson said.

House arrest now requires defendants to install a camera and upon receiving a call from their house arrest supervisor they are required to go to the camera to confirm they are at their home, Nelson said.

Bonaventure lowered the bail after granting prosecutors' request to postpone the Aug. 9 trial date. The request to reschedule the trial to Nov. 15 was significant because Serrano-Villagrana had invoked his right to a speedy trial.

The 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees that right, and Nevada law specifies that a defendant has a right to go to trial within 60 days of arraignment. Defendants can waive that right and frequently do because their lawyers want to have enough time to properly prepare for trial.

Specifically, Nevada Revised Statute 178.556 notes that the district court may dismiss an indictment of a defendant whose trial has not been postponed by his or her own request and is not brought to trial within 60 days.

Singer said one of the reasons Bonaventure had previously refused to lower Serrano-Villagrana's bail at a June 23 hearing was because the trial was scheduled to begin on Monday. That would have meant Serrano-Villagrana would not remain in custody for a long time, by Bonaventure's reckoning.

Nelson said he requested the rescheduling of the trial because of the medical status of the prosecution's key witness, Gabriella Solis.

"A key witness who actually saw the defendant driving is currently involved in a high risk pregnancy and she's even passed out because she went outside," Nelson said. "She has been advised not to go out anymore as she is expecting twins due the beginning of October."

Singer objected, saying he was ready to go to trial, adding the case could go forward using Solis' preliminary hearing testimony.

Nelson, however, disputed Singer's claim that he was ready to go to trial. Nelson said Singer failed to abide by discovery rules requiring the defense to turn over a witness list five days prior to the trial date.

Bonaventure said a witness list was only required if Singer intended to call witnesses, prompting him to ask Singer if he intended to do so at trial. Singer said he wasn't sure, and that answer obviously didn't sit well with Bonaventure.

"You're posing as a man who wants to go to trial," Bonaventure said. "You're saying you are ready, willing and able."

Ultimately Bonaventure decided to grant the request to reschedule the trial, after Nelson pointed out Solis' preliminary hearing testimony was only used to show just cause existed for Serrano-Villagrana to stand trial and not to show he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt as would be required before a jury.

Solis, who lives across the street from the scene of the crash, said at the preliminary hearing that Serrano-Villagrana was the driver of the truck that crashed into the bus stop. She also testified that he removed beer from the truck when he got out of it. She did, however, testify that although she was wearing her glasses in court she did not have them on when she witnessed the crash.

Singer said his investigators heard a totally different story from Solis since her preliminary hearing testimony.

"My investigator visited her (Solis) and she recanted everything she testified about at the preliminary," Singer said. "She (Solis) told my investigator she was washing dishes when she heard the crash and then went over to her window to look."

With the trial date rescheduled, Bonaventure heard arguments about lowering Serrano-Villagrana's bail.

Afterward, Nelson said he understood Bonaventure's decision to reduce the bail in response to the request for a continuance. He said as a "practical matter of law" bail is set at the discretion of lower courts. Nelson said even if he could file a motion to challenge the reduction he wouldn't.