Judge denies new trial motion for Modesto man convicted of holding girlfriend captive

A Stanislaus Superior Court judge on Thursday denied a motion seeking a new trial for a man convicted several months ago of punching his girlfriend and holding her captive in a Modesto motel room after she tried to leave to feed her children.

Attorneys for Alvin Bernard Jones argued that the prosecutor should have been removed from the case, because the defendant had sued Deputy District Attorney Beth O’Hara De Jong after he was acquitted in a previous domestic violence case.

Roland Thé, one of Jones’ attorneys, argued that De Jong had discretionary authority in the case, such as negotiating a plea deal, providing the defense with discovery evidence and deciding what evidence to present at trial. He said it was improper for her to prosecute a man who had filed a lawsuit against her.

Jones on Dec. 3, 2013, filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against De Jong and District Attorney Birgit Fladager. On April 1, 2014, the court dismissed the lawsuit, because Jones didn’t participate in the case. Jones was arrested a few weeks later on suspicion of holding his girlfriend captive in the Modesto motel.

Superior Court Judge Dawna Reeves said Jones didn’t participate in the civil suit after he filed the complaint. The civil case had been dismissed more than two weeks before he was arrested in the motel incident. The judge said the prosecutors had no way of knowing Jones was considering hiring a civil attorney and refiling the civil complaint.

Thé argued that De Jong should have recused herself, knowing there was a “disabling relationship” between her and the defendant that created an unfair trial. “There was bad blood, bad history,” Thé told the judge.

John Carty is Jones’ court-appointed defense attorney. Thé is an associate attorney at Carty’s Stockton-based firm.

Carty told the judge that prosecutors have a duty to seek justice and ensure a fair trial. He argued that De Jong had a conflict of interest, because she had lost the first domestic violence case against Jones, and he had responded with a civil suit.

“(De Jong) may be biased in this case, because (Jones) sued her,” Carty told the judge Thursday afternoon.

Reeves said there was no contact or communication between the defendant and the prosecutor outside the courtroom.

The judge rejected the new trial motion and scheduled Jones to return to court June 18 for a sentencing hearing. Prosecutors initially said he faced a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. But Reeves said Thursday that the maximum sentence will likely be less, because Jones was convicted of two previous violent felonies in the same case.

The incident involving Jones and his girlfriend occurred April 14, 2014, at the Vagabond Inn on McHenry Avenue in central Modesto.

The woman told police that her boyfriend, Jones, had held her in her motel room against her will for several hours, De Jong has said. The girlfriend had asked for her car keys because she wanted to go to the Modesto Gospel Mission, where her children could get something to eat. Angered that his girlfriend wanted to leave, Jones became violent. He punched the woman in the nose, threatened to kill her and tackled her when she tried to leave, according to De Jong.

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Judge denies new trial motion for Modesto man convicted of holding girlfriend captive."