Bail Blog
01/02/2013
The world didn’t end in 2012, but it was filled with many shocks and surprises including some surprisingly large bail amounts. This year’s largest bail numbers were awarded for a variety of offenses including murder, sexual assault, insider trading and evading arrest. While 2012’s surprisingly high bail amounts all went to men, the list includes suspected criminals from a variety of ethnicities, ages and backgrounds including a teacher and a hedge fund manager.
Do the bail amounts fit the crimes? Read on to find out more details about the charges facing the defendants and their bail amounts.
#10: $4.2 million set for David Navarro
Crime: Attempted Murder
No, this isn’t the same David Navarro that once played lead guitar for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction. The David Navarro accused in this case lives in Soledad, California, and his arrest ultimately resulted from shooting at police officers as he ran across a highway. Navarro had been a passenger in the car of a friend when police attempted pulling them over. At the time, there was an arrest warrant out for Navarro for possessing illegal drugs, and he was also suspected of having raped a minor. He fled from the vehicle and fired shots at the police officers who attempted to stop him. He faces five counts of attempted murder since he shot at five officers.
#9: $5 million set for Mathew Martoma
Crime: Insider Trading
Mathew Martoma was once a portfolio manager for hedge funds. Now he’s defending against charges of insider trading in a lawsuit. This case is one of the biggest lawsuits brought for insider trading in the history of the United States. During the time period for which he’s being charged, Martoma somehow avoided losses while at the same time selling short $246 million dollars over the course of two days. This activity marks the biggest transaction to involve insider trading ever in recorded history. Martoma came by his knowledge through exploiting a relationship with a professor at a medical school. He learned confidential information relating to a new drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Martoma is now the fourth individual associated with the company SAC Capital since 2008 that has been arrested under charges of insider trading.
#9: $5 million set for Joseph David Dorsey
Crime: Murder
Joseph David Dorsey, a resident of Lake Elsinore, California, has been accused of murdering a Lake Elsinore woman and putting her remains in a suitcase. The usual bail amount set for murder according to a bail schedule is only $1 million. However, authorities in the case believed Dorsey to be a flight risk since he was in Mexico at the time the woman’s body was discovered. According to authorities, they spent a significant amount of money to have Dorsey extradited back to California from Mexico.
#8: $6 million set for Eddie Matthew Mosley
Crime: Murder
A resident of St. Louis, Eddie Matthew Mosley faces three counts of murder in the second degree. He’s been accused of murdering a woman in her fifties along with her parents, who were both in their eighties, at the woman’s home, which was also a daycare in the Brooklyn Park area of Minneapolis. Allegedly, Mosley had attempted to find and kill a teenage girl accusing him of raping her. Mosley had expected the girl to be at the victims’ residence and had called and texted the girl’s mother urging her to get the rape charge dropped.
#7: $7.8 million set for Gerald Eugene Walker
Crime: Assaulting a Government Official with a Deadly Weapon and More
Bail of 7.8 million dollars was set for Gerald Eugene Walker for multiple charges. After being pulled over for a routine stop, Walker exchanged gunfire with the police attempting to stop him. The incident led to his arrest and multiple charges including resisting arrest and possessing a firearm as a felon. His status as a felon resulted from a sex offense charge in the first degree against a child under 13, attempted larceny, felony larceny and felony conspiracy, all in 2010 and 2011. Walker has been convicted of crimes 24 times in total.
#6: $9 million set for Jake England and Alvin Watts
Crime: Murder
In April of 2012, police arrested Jake England and Alvin Watts, residents of Oklahoma. The men face a variety of charges including three counts of murder in the first degree as well as attempted murder (two counts) and possessing a firearm with the intention to kill. The two men have been accused of participating in a shooting spree in Tulsa in which three people were killed and two more were injured.
#5: $10 million set for Hun Saelee
Crime: Attempted Murder
The defendant, Hun Saelee, went to a Halloween party on the 31st of October, 2012. Ben Pessah and his girlfriend were leaving the party when Saelee is alleged to have grabbed the girlfriend’s chest. Saelee got a gun from inside the trunk of his vehicle and pointed it at a number of party guests. According to witnesses, Saelee seemed to be looking for a fight, and no one knows what provoked him into getting a gun from his car, bringing it back to the party and aiming it at guests. Pessah attempted to run from Saelee, but was unsuccessful. Saelee shot him in the head. Pessah is now in a medically induced coma. Saelee fled from the scene, but police later arrested him on charges of attempted murder.
#5: $10 million set for Adrian G. Sassen Van Elsloo
Crime: Eluding Police, Possessing Narcotics, Possessing Weapons
Police chased Adrian G. Sassen Van Elsloo through two counties before the chase ended with a crash. After the crash, Sassen Van Elsloo engaged officers in an armed standoff before fleeing. The defendant has arrest warrants out for a number of drug charges, weapons charges and prior charges for eluding officers. Police ultimately apprehended Sassen Van Elsloo after police in an unmarked vehicle spotted and followed him. A chase ensued, and after another crash, police fired a pepper ball into Sassen Van Elsloo’s vehicle and were able to arrest him.
#5: $10 million set for Rajat Gupta
Crime: Insider Trading
Rajat Gupta is currently out on bail as he seeks an appeal to his conviction for insider trading. A previous board member for Goldman Sachs, Gupta was convicted in June of 2012. According to the evidence, Gupta leaked boardroom secrets to a portfolio manager.
#4: $23 million set for Mark Berndt
Crime: Sexual Assault
Mark Berndt formerly taught in the Los Angeles area. He’s currently facing charges of committing lewd acts with children 7 to 10 years old. The list of victims includes 23 children made up of both boys and girls, and five more children have stepped forward to state they’ve been assaulted by Berndt as well. A photo lab worker contacted police when suspicious photos of children who were gagged with tape belonging to the defendant appeared in the lab.
#3: $25 million set for Binh Thai Luc
Crime: Murder
Binh Thai Luc, a resident of San Francisco, has been arrested for allegedly murdering two men and three women in the neighborhood of Ingleside at a residence near San Francisco’s City College. His arrest took place in March of 2012. Luc faces additional charges related to robbery, burglary and waiting to kill one of his victims and has denied all charges.
#2: $28 million set for Derek Sanders
Crime: Sexual Assault
Called “The Roaming Rapist,” Derek Sanders faces accusations of sexually assaulting 10 women from around the country. Charges include assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl. Among the charges against Sanders include rape (15 counts) and kidnapping (nine counts), with 35 counts total of sexual assault. Although Sanders’ bail was originally set lower, it was eventually raised to 28 million dollars.
#1: $50 million set for Robert Gaskill
Crime: Sexual Assault
Robert Gaskill, 63, resides in River Forest, Illinois. He faces charges of sexually assaulting two children over the course of more than a decade. Allegedly, Gaskill abused the two children over a period of 15 years starting in 1996. His charges include two counts of Class X felony for committing criminal sexual assault.