A teenager suspected of a double homicide was released using an ankle monitor after a judge used the bail group’s “security tool” to decide he posed a small risk to society.
Adrian Avila, 18, was released from prison Tuesday after Albuquerque District Judge Stanley Whitaker ruled that prosecutors could not prove Avila was a threat to society despite evidence linking the teen to two separate murders.
He will be required to wear an ankle-mounted GPS monitor at all times and comply with a curfew.
Ávila was set free by the Arnold Tool, a risk assessment system developed by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
Adrian Avila (pictured) awaits the start of two trials for two separate murders he is accused of in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But District Judge Stanley Whitaker on Tuesday allowed him to wait outside jail for trial and ordered him to wear an ankle GPS monitor and enforce a curfew.
It was rolled out by courts in New Mexico in 2017 as well, and the Arnold Foundation’s website says it aims to “remove unfair pre-trial detention and create a justice system where prison is used only when absolutely necessary.”
At the time of its introduction, assessment-related studies showed that suspects who were considered low to medium risk tended to commit more crimes if they were incarcerated for a long time.
The controversial tool helps judges determine whether defendants can be released on bail, released under strict measures, or kept in custody pending trial.
The judiciary is looking into how dangerous suspected defendants can be if they are released from custody and the possibility that they will not miss their court hearings.
But bail reform measures have come under scrutiny in recent months after suspects deemed safe to be released committed serious crimes in the US, leading to claims that supporters are more concerned about the rights of the accused than the safety of the general public.
Ávila received a score of 2 out of 7 on the community threat scale and a score of 1 on the non-appearance scale.
New Mexico District Judge Stanley Whitaker (pictured) justified his decision to allow Adrian Ávila, who is awaiting trial for two separate murders, to wait for trials outside prison to begin because prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence that the 18-year-old is old represented a safety and flight risk
Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina criticized Judge Whitaker for making the decision to release Avila from prison based on a risk assessment tool.
“The ankle monitor is not a solution for those with a history of abuse or allegations of abuse,” Medina said, quoted by ABC affiliate KOAT. “And if Arnold (Tool) needs to be replaced, let’s stop talking about it and actually do it.
For the first time, a defendant accused of killing two people in separate incidents is allowed to await trial outside of his jail cell, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torres said.
“We have already made the decision to appeal this order and request that the case be heard by the Court of Appeal, as well as to request that Mr. Ávila be placed in pre-trial detention on not one, but two separate murder cases,” Torrez told KOAT.
Since June 12, 2017, New Mexico courts have used a risk assessment tool developed by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, which sought to “eliminate unfair pre-trial detention and create a justice system that uses prison only when absolutely necessary.” Studies have shown that suspects in the low and medium risk categories tended to commit more crimes if they were incarcerated for a long period of time.
Defense lawyer Ahmad Aseed stated that prosecutors had no evidence that they were holding Avila in custody until the start of the trial, indicating that his client has no criminal record and that he turned himself in.
“We do not decide cases based on insinuations and closing arguments of the District Attorney aimed at media attention. That was the whole deal today, it was just the notion of a closing argument or opening statement for the media,” Assed said, according to KOAT. “It is not for the court or the judge to discuss the details of the case. The judge must follow the law, and the law clearly requires the state to act. If the state does not act, and in this case the state did not act, the court must be guided by the law.”
Avila is accused of being one of four people involved in the murder of 17-year-old Donnie Brandon in August 2020.
Authorities charged him with the crime last week.
Former corrections officer Elias Otero is one of two victims allegedly killed by Adrian Avila in New Mexico.
Anna Bella Dukes, in custody without bail, helped lure Elias Otero through a social media app as part of a plot to rob him.
Ávila surrendered to authorities in December 2021 and was charged with the February 11, 2021 murder of former corrections officer Elias Otero, 24. A second suspect, 18-year-old Anna Bella Dukes, has also been charged with murder and remains in prison with no connection.
Both Avila and Dux face charges of murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, evidence tampering and conspiracy.
The investigator discovered that Dukes used a social media app to lure Otero’s brother, Nicholas Otero, and allow Avila and another suspect to rob him. Otero was forced out of the car and demanded that he turn in cash, jewelry, and a gun.
They held him at gunpoint and drove to his house in his car and a second car. Upon arrival, they ordered him to call Elias Otero so he could meet them with more money and a gun. Otero walked out of the residence and threatened to shoot the suspects during the confrontation before Ávila shot him.
Alicia Otero, who opposes Arnold Tool, fears that another family may be dealing with the pain of losing a loved one while Avila awaits trial.
“I feel like another family will have to go through the same pain that we have in losing a loved one,” she said, according to KOAT. “Every day we wake up. I don’t eat, I don’t sleep. All I think about is what it took from us. He took my child.”