The court granted the individual's motion for pretrial release under § 3142 of the Bail Reform Act. The court ruled that the individual's health conditions (such as severe obesity and PTSD) put him at greater risk for contracting COVID-19, especially given that conditions at the prison made it nearly impossible to socially distance and to adequately sanitize/wash one's hands. The court also noted that while the individual had been previously deemed a "danger to the community," the court's calculus had changed given that "Daniels now has serious, potentially life-threatening incentives to obey the conditions of his release." The court specifically stated that he would be incentivized to follow the judge's orders due to his desire to stay out of jail (for health purposes) and because social contact would only heighten his risk of infection.
United States v. Daniels, No. 19-CR-00709-LHK (NC), 2020 WL 1815342 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 9, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
4/9/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (Federal Charges)
Relief Requested
Class Certification, Improved Conditions, Preliminary Injunction (PI), Release, Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
California
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Elderly, Immigrant Detention, Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail]
Release Granted
Yes
Compassionate Release Case
No
Compassionate Release Specific Characteristics
Only served a small portion of their sentence (less than 33%)
Case Tracking Number
5:19-cr-00709-LHK
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
N.D. Cal.
Decision
Motion Granted
Place of Incarceration
Local / County Jail
Name of Facility
Santa Rita County Jail
Legal Authority
Eighth Amendment - Deliberate Indifference, Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments), Substantive Due Process - Punitive Detention (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Subject to 24 hour home incarceration to be enforced by location monitoring technology; Will be remanded back to custody on June 9 (subject to further modification); Maintenance of video conferencing to allow for remote monitoring; Must report if he, or any cohabitant, exhibits any symptoms of illness; Must comply with Gov. Newsom's shelter in place order
Convictions
Prior convictions not specified
Case Status
Decision Made
Compassionate Release Exhaustion Holdingsin Federal Case
Crowdsourced legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration, organized, collected, and summarized for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. Created and managed by Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project, and Zealous. Mostly federal court opinions, but now expanding to states and legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.
This resource is designed to help lawyers, advocates, researchers, journalists, and others interested in challenging, remedying, or drawing attention to the grave risk that Covid-19 poses to individuals who are detained.