Joel G. Barnes appeared in court for the second time this week
to be arraigned for six more felony charges, and the prosecutor
said there could be even more forthcoming based on his refusal to
surrender to authorities numerous times in recent weeks.
Joel G. Barnes appeared in court for the second time this week to be arraigned for six more felony charges, and the prosecutor said there could be even more forthcoming based on his refusal to surrender to authorities numerous times in recent weeks.
The most recent allegations are related to offenses committed during the course of last week’s repeated attempts by deputies to arrest Barnes on warrants for prior charges. He was charged today with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of resisting arrest, one count of evading, and one count of vandalism.
Superior Court Judge Edward Lee set Barnes’ bail at $250,000, citing the defendant’s six pending criminal cases in local court, and a prior conviction for homicide. Barnes is also in custody in lieu of a combined $125,000 bail for domestic violence and firearms possession charges for which he was arraigned Tuesday.
Barnes, 39 from Gilroy, said little, but shook his head in disagreement numerous times today as a Deputy District Attorney argued for a sizable bail for the latest charges.
“(Barnes) is a great danger to society, and he will go to any lengths to escape capture,” said Deputy District Attorney Cindy Hendrickson. She noted Barnes’ past history of violence which includes the killing of his girlfriend with a knife in 1995, a list of misdemeanor charges including battery since he completed his sentence in 2007, and a parole violation in 2006.
He also tried to ram one Sheriff’s deputy’s car with his truck, and did ram another deputy’s car when authorities tried to pick him up in San Martin Sept. 2, Hendrickson continued. Immediately following that encounter, Barnes led deputies on a chase through rural areas of South County, destroying a fence on private property at one point and earning today’s felony vandalism charge, Hendrickson said.
Furthermore, Barnes eluded deputies a total of three times this summer as they attempted to pick him up on arrest warrants, and ran from Morgan Hill police on one occasion, according to Hendrickson. More charges could be piled on stemming from these previous flights from authorities, she added.
After today’s hearing, Hendrickson said she felt the bail of $250,000 was “appropriately set.”
If convicted of all six charges announced today, Barnes could face a maximum combined penalty of 21 years, four months in state prison, according to DA’s spokesperson Amy Cornell.
Barnes rarely sat still during the proceeding, as he repeatedly but quietly attempted to get the attention of his attorney from the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s office.
He was arraigned Tuesday on the charges for which deputies began seeking him earlier this summer. He was arrested Sept. 3. Counts of false imprisonment and felony assault stem from a July 23 domestic violence incident. He was also arraigned Tuesday for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in relation to an Aug. 18 incident.
When asked by the judge if his name and date of birth were correct on those two complaints, Barnes replied both times Tuesday, “That’s about all that’s correct.”
He will be in court at 9 a.m. Friday for a plea hearing on all of the felony charges.
In addition to these felonies, Barnes has three misdemeanor cases pending in Santa Clara County Superior Court. Charges in those cases, all filed in 2009, include battery, resisting arrest, contempt of court, and giving a false name to police, according to Cornell.
Barnes completed his parole on an 11-year prison term for killing his common-law wife, Tracy Lynn Little, in Dec. 2007. The killing, to which Barnes pleaded no contest on a voluntary manslaughter charge, took place in 1995.
