A man who fled from child molestation charges on the eve of his trial but was recaptured and returned to Santa Maria can not withdraw his plea agreement, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge John McGregor ruled Thursday.
Santa Maria resident Clive Badi Decomarmond, who is in custody, claimed his prior attorney pressured him to accept the plea agreement in December and a month later fired his private attorney, Catherine Swysen. He also claimed he had a headache the day he entered into the agreement, contending his ailment stemmed from an injury received in Texas, where he was recaptured.
The judge noted defendants always feel some pressure to settle a case before a trial, but said he couldn’t rule that Decomarmond faced undue pressure.
While not the judge for the earlier hearing in the case, McGregor noted he was wielding the gavel on the day of the plea agreement.
“There was no evidence the defendant suffered any injury or was in any pain from his flight and recapture,” McGregor said.
Because the defendant pleaded to 20 counts, the process of reading the charges and confirming he agreed to the plea bargain “was not a short one,” McGregor said in denying the motion.
Sentencing for Decomarmond is set for 8:30 a.m. April 23, with the judge warning it will take place that day.
He faces a sentence of 42 years and four months in state prison, less than the 100 years to life possible if a jury had found him guilty.
Deputy District Attorney Brandon Jebens argued the defendant tried to withdraw his plea because of the lengthy state prison sentence “and he’s scared.”
Jebens noted that he goes “above and beyond” when accepting plea deals to ensure the defendant understands what he or she is accepting.
“I was very careful when I took this plea,” he added.
The hearing included questioning of Decomarmond’s former attorney by the prosecutor and new defense attorney, Steve Rice from the Public Defender’s Office.
In addition to victims’ families, hearings involving Decomarmond are attended by several members of the Atascadero chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse.
The 42-year-old Decomarmond accepted a plea deal in early December and entered a guilty plea after a flurry of meetings among the parties.
He originally was taken into custody in May 2013 in Grover Beach after a two-week investigation, the Santa Maria police said in a news release. He was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor. The investigation and reports of his arrest led to the discovery of other incidents.
In all, the allegations involved five victims, authorities said previously.
As his criminal trial was scheduled to start last summer, authorities issued a felony no-bail warrant for Decomarmond because he failed to show up at the Santa Maria Court Complex.
Authorities believed Decomarmond, who immigrated to the United States from the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean, had fled the Central Coast area. A few days later, he was captured in Texas and ultimately returned to Santa Barbara County.
Before the plea agreement, Decomarmond faced 21 charges and admitted in December to crimes against all five victims, the prosecutor said, adding that the defendant also had pleaded to one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the plea deal.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.