Araujo case: Retrial date set, man gets bail

Judge Sets Bail For One Man Accused Of Killing Araujo
New Trial Date Set For May 2005

POSTED: 6:01 pm PDT July 30, 2004
It was a tough day in court Friday for the family of a Newark transgender teenager murdered almost two years ago.

A judge set bail at $1 million for one of the men accused of killing Gwen Araujo.

Holding her granddaughter, Araujo's mother was in court Friday looking on as attorneys took on the fight of whether Jason Cazares should be granted bail, NBC11's Cheryl Hurd reported.

"He will not disappoint his family, friends. He has nowhere to go in another community," said J. Tony Serra, Cazares' attorney.

But Prosecutor Chris Lamiero saw it differently.

"Clearly Mr. Cazares is a danger to the community. He has shown it in his actions," Lamiero said.

Cazares, Michael Magisdon and Jose Merel are accused of killing Araujo in October 2002.

Prosecutors say they killed Gwen after having sex with her and later discovering she was biologically a male.

After hearing arguments, the judge decided to set bail for Cazares at $1 million.

The Araujo family was visibly upset and left the court without making a comment.

A trial date for the three men accused is set for May 2005.

A fourth man, 21-year-old Jaron Nabors, of Newark, originally faced a murder charge in the case.

Nabors and his attorney worked out a plea bargain to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. He is now in prison.

Defendant in Araujo case freed on bail

$1 million bond posted in killing of transgender teen

By Ivan Delventhal, STAFF WRITER for Alameda Times-Star

Jason Cazares, one of three men charged with killing a transgender Newark teenager in October 2002, is free on $1 million bail, authorities said Tuesday.

Alameda County sheriff's Lt. Jim Knudsen confirmed that Cazares was released from custody on a bail bond from Santa Rita county jail in Dublin about 10:15 p.m. Monday.

Cazares and Jose Merel, both 24 and of Newark, and Michael Magidson, 24, of Fremont, are charged with murder and a hate-crime enhancement in the slaying of 17-year-old Gwen Araujo on Oct. 4, 2002.

Prosecutors allege that the men beat and strangled Araujo -- who was born Eddie Araujo but was living as a young woman named Gwen at the time of the slaying -- when they learned the teen was anatomically male.

Araujo's first name was legally changed to Gwen in June.

Merel and Magidson had been sexually active with the teenager while believing Araujo to be a young woman named Lida, according to court testimony. After killing Araujo, according to testimony, the defendants drove to the Sierra foothills and buried the body in a shallow grave.

The trial of the three men ended in a mistrial in June, when jurors told the judge they were hopelessly deadlocked on all three defendants. A retrial is scheduled for May 2005.

Judge Harry Sheppard, who presided over the trial, set Cazares' bail Friday at $1 million in response to a motion by the defendant's lawyer, J. Tony Serra.

Deputy District Attorney Chris Lamiero had argued that if the judge was inclined to set bail, he should set it at $5 million.

After the bail hearing, Serra said it probably would take about a month for Cazares' family members and friends to ascertain whether they would be able to make bail. Serra said the family is not well off and would attempt to post property with the court to satisfy the bail figure.

Cazares' mother and other supporters left the courthouse without speaking to reporters Friday.

Authorities confirmed Tuesday that Cazares was freed on a $1 million bail bond, indicating that his family did not post property with the court to secure his release but most likely paid the typical 10 percent fee to a bail bonds agency. Cazares' friends and family members may have been required to post property with the bail agency to secure the bond.

Serra could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Under the conditions of bail set forth last week, Cazares is not to leave the state without the court's permission, is to obey all laws and must stay away from prosecution witnesses and Araujo's relatives.

Sylvia Guerrero, Araujo's mother, said Tuesday that her daughter had learned Monday night through from a county victim notification system that Cazares no longer was in custody. Guerrero said she was stunned when bail was set last week and shocked again Monday when she learned that Cazares had been released.

She said she was frightened by the prospect of possibly seeing Cazares in Newark.

"This case has gone through a preliminary hearing and a trial, and there should be enough there, somewhere, in the testimony, and witnesses, and evidence, to have prevented him from getting bail granted," Guerrero said.

The Constitution guarantees the right to reasonable bail in most cases. A court may deny bail in some instances, such as when a defendant is charged with a capital offense.

Cazares, Merel and Magidson face potential sentences of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder, 15 years to life if convicted of second-degree murder and 11 years if convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The hate-crime enhancement, if found to be true, could add four years to any sentence.

Lamiero, the prosecutor, said Tuesday that -- given that a formal bail hearing took place Friday -- he has no basis to return to court and ask for an increase in or denial of bail.

"If something does occur in the future that would have a bearing on the bail amount, or the entitlement to bail, then we could bring it back to the judge," he said.