Judge refuses to lower woman’s bail

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Monday, June 27, 2005 | 8:49 a.m.

A judge refused to lower the bail of a certified personal care aide accused of killing her quadriplegic ex-husband by drowning him in the bathtub, saying the woman is a danger to the community because "she's a meth addict"

District Judge Michael Cherry ordered bail remain at $500,000 for 25-year-old Gloria Guzman, who was arrested on March 11 after she allegedly admitted to detectives that she intentionally drowned 40-year-old Mark Richards on Feb. 26.

Guzman was allegedly angry with Richards because he planned to move into his own assisted living apartment, and that move would have deprived her of the income she received for taking care of him, according to the police report.

Attorney Ross Goodman, who was recently appointed to the defense, had argued Guzman's bail should have been reduced or released on her own recognizance because she had no criminal history and there was strong evidence to suggest Richards actually died from a drug overdose.

"You can't ignore that this is a young lady of 25 years of age with no criminal history whatsoever," Goodman said. "She cared for her husband. The evidence shows there were enough drugs in his system to kill him. The foam in his mouth is consistent with drug abuse, his lungs weren't inflated and there was a minimal presence of water in his body."

Goodman added that Guzman's 8-year-old niece was at the home when Richards died and she reported "no signs of a struggle or pleas for help."

Deputy District Attorney Ravindar Bawa had prepared to call Richards' daughter and an advocate for the disabled to testify at the bail hearing, but after playing a tape of a 911 call Guzman made on Feb. 14 Cherry said he had already reached a decision.

During the call, Guzman sounds disorientated and rambles on, telling the dispatcher two black men broke into her house. Later in the call she says there is a white woman and a dwarf at the door.

As the call continues, Guzman finally tells the frustrated dispatcher she fired a gun after she thought the black men were coming in her room. At this point Richards' father takes the phone and says no one was shot and that no one had broken into the house.

After the call was over, Goodman said simply being a methamphetamine addict "doesn't make her a danger to society." Cherry responded saying "yes it does, in Department 17 (Cherry's court) it does."

Bawa also said that Richards' daughter, Amber Richards, said that Guzman called her and said she was "mad at her" for talking to the police.

"She (Amber Richards) is concerned the defendant (Guzman) might do something to hurt her or her family if she is released."

Guzman was scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 18, but after a conflict was discovered within the public defender's office and Goodman was appointed her attorney, she has decided to waive her right to a speedy trial and will have a new date set at a July 7 hearing.