Agustin Sandoval and Vicente Aguilera-Chavez, who were both charged with murder in connection with a 2017 shooting that left one dead and another injured, were arrested after Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety detectives were able to identify them as suspects in 2024.
On Friday, Judge Hector Ramon released Sandoval “on his own recognizance,” meaning the suspect does not have to pay bail, while Aguilera was released two weeks earlier, on October 31, a Santa Clara County District Attorney spokesperson told Fox News.
“It was bad enough that an accused murderer with a violent past was let out of custody, now there are two,” Rosen said. “The odds of re-offense or fleeing from justice just doubled. People’s lives ride on those odds.”
The District Attorney went on to say that he was already “shocked” by Judge Ramon’s first decision to release Aguilera, who he deemed “absolutely a danger to our community.”
“This is an individual who not only committed a murder, who’s not only been to prison once, but has been to a prison twice, and is a documented gang member, this is a dangerous person, and I’m the district attorney and as the chief law enforcement officer, my job is to protect this community’s safety,” Rosen said.
“I think that there’s a range in which judges can make decisions that are reasonable and reasonable people can disagree,” he added. “The reason I’m speaking out about this case is this is not a reasonable decision. This is outside the bounds of what’s acceptable and it’s dangerous to the public.”
The District Attorney’s office also accused the court of “gambling” with the notion that Aguilera “does not pose a risk to public safety because he has not been arrested for the last few years.”
“The court should give equal weight to his criminal history — and the fact that he brazenly murdered a stranger in front of a crowd because the stranger was drunk and mouthing off,” Rosen’s office said.
Aguilera and Sandoval’s public defenders, meanwhile, argue that the murder suspects haven’t “hurt anyone” and are not a flight risk.
Sandoval’s Deputy Alternate Defender, Kristin Carter, claimed her client “hasn’t committed a felony and hasn’t hurt anyone” since the alleged murder, while Aguilera’s Deputy Public Defender, Jennifer Redding, said her client wasn’t involved in the shooting and is strongly tied to the community.
“There is no evidence that Mr. Aguilera, especially with (supervised release) conditions, would present any risk of bodily harm to others,” Redding reportedly wrote in a late October motion seeking the suspect’s release from pre-trial custody.
“Mr. Aguilera is motivated to clear his name,” the public defender added. “There is no compelling interest in detaining Mr. Aguilera on public safety grounds or out of concern he is a flight risk.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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