Judge Denies Bail for SJPD Officer Charged With Rape

A judge in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Monday ordered a San Jose police officer charged with rape and assault to be held without bail and denied all defense requests to reduce charges and remove enhancements that carry potential life sentences.

Judge JoAnne McCracken set an arraignment hearing for Officer Geoffrey Evatt Graves for March 30 when a date would be set for his jury trial on the rape charge and two felony domestic violence charges, which would come within 60 days.

The judge said she denied him bail, despite a recommendation by the county Office of Pretrial Services to grant him supervised release, based on evidence of Graves' use of alcohol and drugs and his showing "a pattern of volatility, a pattern of violence" over the past few years.

McCracken said she was persuaded by the rape and assault charges and other examples provided by prosecutors that Graves posed a threat to the community and there was a "substantial likelihood" he could harm people based on his abuse of alcohol.

She noted specifically that last year, while Graves was free on a $100,000 bond granted last spring, he allegedly threatened to punch a clerk at a Safeway store at 3 a.m. while buying a bottle of vodka after alcohol sales were closed.

On Monday morning Graves, 39, of Gilroy, and his lawyer announced he had switched his plea to not guilty from the no contest plea he said he wanted last Wednesday after prosecutors filed the amended complaint with five enhancements, including two carrying potential life sentences if he is
convicted.

Graves pleaded not guilty to all of the charges last year.

He has been on paid leave from the San Jose Police Department since prosecutors alleged last April he raped a woman while on duty as a police officer after driving her to the TownePlace Suites by Marriott hotel in San Jose following an early morning call about a domestic dispute she had with her husband on Sept. 22, 2013.

Copyright BAYCN - Bay City News
Contact Us