Opinion ID: 484937
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Connecticut Criminal Case

Text: 2 In United States v. Gerena, appellants were among a group of people indicted for their participation in a bank robbery in 1983 at a Wells Fargo depot in Hartford, Connecticut. The indictment charged, inter alia, that Fernandez and Castro aided in the transport of money and of another participant in the robbery to Mexico and Cuba. 3 Fernandez was arrested in Puerto Rico in August, 1985. After his arrest, he was removed to Connecticut where a bail hearing was held. During the hearing, the government argued that there was a risk that Fernandez would flee, in view of his previous travel history and his extensive international contacts. The magistrate's order, providing for detention without bail, was based on this risk of flight. The magistrate declared that the government had not presented sufficient evidence to justify the denial of bail on any danger to the community posed by Fernandez. Fernandez was found to be a member of the Macheteros, an organization alleged by the Connecticut indictment to be committed to achieving the independence of Puerto Rico by the use of force and to the establishment of a Socialist-Communist form of government. The magistrate stated, however, that although some evidence had been presented connecting the defendant to the Connecticut robbery, its weight was not conclusive. The risk of flight was the basis for the district court's affirmance of the magistrate's denial of bail.