Can higher bail be used to stop deportation? Mass. high court weighs man's rape case
A Haitian migrant charged with raping a teenage girl at a Massachusetts family shelter wants to be released from custody after a judge set his bail at $150,000 last fall.
The state's Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments Wednesday morning about a Plymouth County judge's decision to increase the man's original $500 bail to prevent his deportation and allow the case to proceed.
Prosecutors asked for 26-year-old Cory Alvarez's bail to be set at $1 million after federal immigration authorities sought to deport him in October, before a judge set it at $150,000.
Alvarez is charged with raping a teenage girl at a Comfort Inn in Rockland and his deportation was set for Oct. 31 before a state judge intervened. The hotel where Alvarez lived was part of the state's shelter program for homeless families, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz's Office previously said.
Federal immigration authorities have an agreement with Cruz's office not to detain Alvarez as long as he remains in state custody, according to John Zanini, a lawyer for the district attorney's office, at Wednesday's hearing.
'The United States government could go pick up Mr. Alvarez, take him into custody and remove him any time they want and they have not,' Zanini said. 'They have not because they are respecting right now our custody so that we can proceed with our trial.'
Alvarez appeared before an immigration judge last year, and based on his 'admissions and concessions,' was found removable, according to Zanini. Alvarez did not appeal the decision and used it 'as a tool to escape prosecution,' Zanini wrote in a court filing.
Zanini added that the judge considered Alvarez's lack of community connections, lack of work history, the nature of the case, the potential penalty and the strength of the prosecution's case when setting the $150,000 bail.
A misuse of bail laws?
Alvarez's attorney, Brian Kelley, argued that the state's bail law has a 'glaring omission' when it comes to considering immigration issues such as deportations.
Legislators didn't write the bail laws to consider the deportation issue, Kelley said.
Bail increases are usually for defendants who violate conditions of their release, and high bail amounts are typically set for people who are considered flight risks, Kelley said.
'What bothers me about this case is that it's completely out of [Alvarez's] hands,' Kelley said.
'If allowed to be the rule, immigrant-defendants who face a possibility of being deported will [be] unfairly subjected to higher (or held without) bail to prevent them being deported through no fault of their own,' Kelley wrote in a filing. 'If allowed to stand, the Court's decision would create a wholly different standard of bail for immigrants, which has not been established before.'
Judge Scott Kafker asked whether the state and the victim's 'interest in justice being done' is a factor.
'I can't say it's not a factor,' Kelley responded, but suggested that, if Alvarez was released and detained by the federal government, immigration authorities could guarantee his appearance in court.
The Supreme Judicial Court judges did not issue a ruling Wednesday.
Alvarez's history
Alvarez is in the United States as part of the Biden administration's Humanitarian Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, according to prosecutors.
On the night of March 13, police went to the Comfort Inn in Rockland at 850 Hingham St. after hotel staff reported a girl said she had been raped, Rockland Police Det. Sgt. Greg Pigeon testified in Hingham District Court during Alvarez's dangerousness hearing in March.
Rockland police took the girl to South Shore Hospital for treatment after arriving at the hotel.
Alvarez entered the country legally and had undergone two background checks, Kelley said at a prior court hearing, citing Gov. Maura Healey's office. It was not clear how long Alvarez had been living at the hotel and Kelley said he spent time in New York City before arriving in Massachusetts.
The girl and Alvarez had no pre-existing relationship before the incident, both prosecutors and Kelley previously confirmed.
What happens next
Prosecutors argued in favor of increasing Alvarez's bail to keep him in Massachusetts and face prosecution on his charges: aggravated rape of a child with 10 year age difference and rape of a child by force.
His deportation would have '(left) him unable to answer the accusations against him,' Cruz's office said in a statement. 'Such a scenario would halt the case indefinitely, preventing any resolution for both the alleged victim and the defendant.'
Judge Elaine Buckle found the prosecutor's arguments convincing in October. The district attorney's office quoted the judge as saying, 'The Commonwealth does have a case of strength. The court finds justice requires the increase in bail.'
Alvarez is scheduled to appear in Plymouth Superior Court on July 23.
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