Judge refuses to increase Joel Garcia’s bond

afternoon a judge denied the motion to increase his bond. the 25-year-old former boxer is charged with three counts of intoxicated manslaughter after allegedly driving drunk and killing brothers joshua and isaiah deal and shannon del rio last christmas eve. garcia was released from jail this november 12th on a $160,000 bond. the prosecution, led by denise butterworth argued today garcia should not be out on bond as he remains a threat to this community. abc-7’s ashlie rodriguez is live from the courthouse with details. ashlie? judge gonzalo garcia disagreed. he said a $160,000 bond is actually high– and joel’s parents took out an $86,000 lien on their home to pay it. he called the prosecution’s case shallow today– saying he will not raise the bond because there is pressure from the public to do so. he said joel garcia has to blow into an interlock device six times a day. he reports to a bond officer three times a week where they test him for drugs and alcohol. and he has never missed a court date. therefore – he doesn’t consider him a flight risk. the prosecution attempted to show evidence of joel’s character— that he has a history of violating bond orders. in fact — when he allegedly was driving drunk last christmas eve, he was on bond for a prior dwi arrest — and he wasn’t supposed to be drinking. but the judge said garcia paid that debt to society he said garcia is innocent until proven guilty. the judge did not let our cameras in today. he also gave garcia the opportunity to leave through the back to avoid us. families of the victims were visibly upset by the judge’s order — crying and and saying there’s no justice. authorities say the man behind a deadly