Judge declines bond ruling

STAFF WRITER

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Judge Donna Mowrer declined to make a ruling on a bond reduction request made by Jason Ford at his probation violation arraignment on Thursday morning.

Ford, who was allegedly involved in the April 11 incident in which Portales Police Officer Nicholas Laurenz was shot with his holstered gun, requested a reduction on his set bond.

Ford’s bond for a 2010 bench warrant was set at $5,000 cash only, a bond for a probation bench warrant was set for $2,500 cash only, and a bond for a 2011 bench warrant was set for $5,000 cash only.

“What I’m going to do to protect you at this point in time, because I have knowledge of the underlying charges in your case, I’m not going to make a ruling on your bond. We ask that Judge Tatum, the judge assigned to your case, hear that,” Mowrer said.

Mowrer, who entered a plea of not guilty on Ford’s behalf because he did not have an attorney at the time of the arraignment, set his probation violation trial with Judge Drew Tatum for June 30, 2016.

The hearing was a probation violation arraignment and was not for the April 11 incident.

Ford is being held for outstanding warrants and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer. A hearing for him has not yet been set for the April 11 case.

A preliminary hearing for Anthony Ortega, who was also involved in the incident, has been set for next Wednesday, April 27 at 9 a.m, according to the Portales district attorney’s office.

Court records show that Ford and Ortega fled from a traffic stop conducted by Laurenz. Ortega allegedly punched Laurenz in the head and face multiple times before Laurenz’s gun discharged, striking his leg with a bullet.

Ortega was charged with aggravated battery, disarming a peace officer, and resisting and evading an officer and is being held without bond, records show.