ST. JOHNS – Distraught young mother Jocelyn Crystal Baca, 20, admitted to breaking parole on three criminal offenses earlier this month in the Apache County Supreme Court.
The case is notable because she once claimed $ 10.5 million against Apache County in connection with the premature birth of her baby in Apache County Jail.
The status of the compensation claim is not yet known, but she has resolved her latest legal issue arising from her commitment to dangerous drug allegations in 2018.
In particular, Baca pleaded guilty to conspiracy to have dangerous drugs for sale, a Class 2 crime; criminal harm, a class 5 crime; and possession or use of a dangerous drug, Class 4 crime.
According to court records, she was sentenced to seven years of intense probation. The probation also included drug treatment. She was fined and refunded approximately $ 2,682, including $ 254 for jail.
On April 5, Baca appeared in court and admitted that she had violated one of her parole terms regarding treatment. The court found that she was removed from Navajo District Prison – whether this was due to her many problems at Apache District Prison is unknown.
She had been on parole for about 28 months with no issues, but on February 22, the state filed a motion to revoke Baca’s parole.
The state alleged that she recently attempted suicide and was instructed by her probation officer to check into an inpatient facility.
Baca informed the officer on February 5 that she had checked into a certain facility, but the officer allegedly found out that it was not.
Then, on February 12, she was ordered to check into another facility, which she allegedly did, but left against medical advice that same day. The state claims that she violated her probation by “checking out or kicking out” the facility, as the judge characterized it.
Her registered attorney appeared over the phone for the admission hearing. Apache County’s presiding judge Michael Latham directed the proceedings and followed the parties’ agreement on how the matter should be resolved.
Baca was put on probation again, but this time with the requirement that she must check into a “longer inpatient psychiatric facility” which, according to the court discussion, also offers “long-term drug treatment”. She was not sent to prison and was released from prison that day.
The judge ruled that Baca would be in “house arrest” for the remainder of April 5 until check-in at the treatment center and was placed in her mother’s care, an arrangement known as a “third party release” . ”
The mother was scheduled to transport her from the Apache County complex to the Payson or Prescott facility for pickup on Tuesday morning, April 6th. The court warned if something went wrong if Baca did not comply. The mother was obliged to notify the authorities, Latham said. If something went wrong and the mother didn’t get through it could mean legal problems for the mother, he noted.
Baca could have been jailed for many years for parole violation, but she appears in dire need of drug and mental health treatment. It remains to be seen whether she will benefit fully this time. At the end of the hearing, the extremely polite Latham, who made the difficult points fairly clear, said to Baca: “We wish you the best of luck and hope that we will not see you again in this capacity.”
Comments are closed.